Is the Clinical Nurse Leader needed in the health care system?
The need for the Clinical Nurse Leader was confirmed through discussions between AACN and health care leaders. Nurse executives stated that this role emerged in the practice setting and continued development on an ad hoc basis. Individuals to fill this and similar roles had previously been recruited based on available clinicians with appropriate education and experience, personal characteristics, and self-selection. Stakeholders affirmed the need to produce these clinicians through a formal degree-granting program. In addition, reports released by the Institute of Medicine, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the American Hospital Association all cited the need to make changes in health care delivery and the education of health professionals to improve patient outcomes.
