Advanced Practice Nurse Leader

Who are we seeking?

Interior Health Authority is in search of a Clinical Nurse Specialist.

What we provide:

• Employee & Family Assistance Program
• Employer sponsored training and educational opportunities
• Paid vacation by the employer
• Medical Services Plan
• Employer covered insurance premiums
• Comprehensive health and dental coverage
• Municipal Pension Plan
• Work-life balance

The salary range for this role is $106,026 to $152,413. Interior Health determines salaries within this range based on the applicant's qualifications, experience, and an internal equity review of other employees' salaries.

How will you contribute?

The Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) plays a pivotal role in enhancing knowledge, improving practices, and ensuring quality service in their area of expertise through leadership, educational program development, research participation, and expert clinical consultation.

The CNS is responsible for advancing nursing and interdisciplinary practices to improve outcomes and quality of care by employing advanced, evidence-based practices.

In collaboration with interdisciplinary team members, the CNS will spearhead the creation of frameworks and strategies to implement best practices in their specialty area. This includes evaluating research and monitoring, updating, and revising relevant standards, policies, and procedures.

The Clinical Nurse Specialist is an advanced practice nurse accountable for enhancing client, population, and health system outcomes by integrating knowledge, skills, and expertise in clinical care, research, leadership, consultation, education, and collaboration.

The CNS operates both independently and collaboratively with interdisciplinary team members across all aspects of this role.

What will your responsibilities include?

Clinical Practice

The Clinical Nurse Specialist is an independent practitioner within their defined scope of practice, utilizing advanced clinical judgment to assess, intervene, and evaluate the clients they serve.

The Clinical Nurse Specialist employs expert knowledge, skills, and abilities to develop, coordinate, and assess a collaborative care plan for complex and unpredictable clinical situations, focusing on optimizing health and quality of life for clients.

The Clinical Nurse Specialist delivers both direct and indirect care based on their specialized knowledge, practice context, and area of expertise.

• Conducts thorough assessments using advanced nursing knowledge and skills for specific clients or nursing practice situations.
• Gathers data regarding the context and causes of conditions suitable for CNS interventions.
• Analyzes the intricate interplay of sociological, psychological, and physiological processes, along with determinants of health and clients' experiences, to develop, implement, evaluate, and adjust care plans.
• Identifies actual or potential risks to client safety, autonomy, and quality of care based on assessments and client/population validation.
• Analyzes client response patterns and needs within complex populations, devising strategies for unit-based, organization-based, and system-based improvements to optimize health outcomes.
• Synthesizes assessment data using advanced knowledge, experience, critical thinking, clinical inquiry, and judgment to formulate care plans.
• Designs care plans for clients with highly complex and often unpredictable needs.
• Utilizes clinical inquiry to determine the need for reassessment, align interventions with causes, and select appropriate evaluation methods.
• Employs various communication and counseling techniques tailored to specific and complex clinical situations.
• Provides consultations in intricate clinical scenarios requiring advanced specialized knowledge and skills.
• Continuously measures indicators such as quality of life, client safety, effectiveness, efficiency, and appropriateness.
• Facilitates knowledge translation in clinical settings to support care plans in complex situations.
• Collaborates with clients and inter-professional team members to achieve optimal health outcomes.
• Advocates for client-centered care in complex situations.
• Coordinates healthcare to ensure safe and seamless transitions among care points in complex scenarios.

Systems Leadership

The Clinical Nurse Specialist serves as a nursing leader.

Systems leadership encompasses the ability to manage change and influence clinical practices and political processes within and across systems, advocating for access to care and advanced nursing services.

• Facilitates inter-professional collaboration to achieve desired client outcomes.
• Leads the development and implementation of nursing practice standards, guidelines, education strategies, quality management, research initiatives, and system changes.
• Critically evaluates socio-political, demographic, and economic trends and policies to influence change for improved health outcomes.
• Integrates client perspectives into policy development and planning.
• Promotes professional growth and collaborative practice among nurses and healthcare team members to ensure client safety and quality care.
• Fosters a culture of learning, quality, and safety through mentorship and coaching.
• Utilizes knowledge of resources and cost-effectiveness to inform decisions at various levels.
• Implements strategies to achieve intended nurse-sensitive client outcomes for defined populations.
• Leads the integration of the CNS role within healthcare teams and broader health systems.
• Applies advanced nursing knowledge to communicate, negotiate, and build coalitions for change.
• Negotiates complex relationships to optimize client outcomes.
• Identifies gaps in clinical care to influence decision-making and change.
• Anticipates future changes and recommends appropriate actions.
• Advocates for necessary resources for safe client care.
• Develops strategies to promote evidence-informed practices for optimal client outcomes.
• Participates in quality and safety initiatives with internal and external partners.
• Evaluates operational issues to contribute to innovative solutions.
• Collaborates in strategic program planning and evaluation for innovative care.

Advancement of Nursing Practice

The Clinical Nurse Specialist leads and supports the professional development of RNs and nursing practices to maximize their scope and depth, leading to optimal client outcomes.

• Models professionalism and accountability in all interactions.
• Advocates for changes that create safe and healthy workplace environments.
• Implements changes that enhance the development of RNs in their roles.
• Evaluates nursing practices against established benchmarks and evidence-informed standards.
• Engages in reflective practice to ensure adherence to professional standards.
• Enhances nursing practice through mentoring, role modeling, and education.
• Incorporates continuous learning to inform and advance nursing practice.
• Disseminates knowledge to advance practice at various levels.
• Promotes the CNS role through involvement in academic and professional associations.
• Builds capacity by mentoring RNs to pursue graduate studies focused on CNS competencies.
• Promotes the CNS role to educators, policymakers, and the public.
• Identifies indicators for measuring and evaluating the CNS role.
• Advocates for ethical nursing practices in the workplace.

Evaluation and Research

As a knowledge translator, the Clinical Nurse Specialist seeks, critiques, interprets, synthesizes, and disseminates evidence for clinical practice and quality improvement initiatives.

Development and evaluation of programs and services are key components of the Clinical Nurse Specialist's practice.

The Clinical Nurse Specialist may act as an investigator or collaborator to identify, conduct, or support research that enhances nursing practice.

• Evaluates current practices against best available evidence.
• Assesses the need for practice improvements to promote safe and effective care.
• Utilizes systematic approaches to redesign care delivery for positive outcomes.
• Employs research and outcome data to formulate and revise policies and standards of care.
• Addresses research practice gaps through relevant evidence.
• Integrates new evidence into practice settings.
• Ensures ethical standards are maintained in research and quality improvement initiatives.
• Implements and evaluates quality management processes.
• Identifies data needed for quality improvement.
• Utilizes research principles to address clinical questions.
• Encourages healthcare teams to engage in clinical inquiry.
• Leads and participates in research initiatives to generate new evidence.
• Participates in evaluating nurse-sensitive indicators.

Performs additional duties as assigned.

Interior Health Authority is committed to creating an environment where employees enjoy their work, the workplace, and their colleagues.

Together, we foster exceptional workplaces.

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