Clinical Nurse Specialist

Detailed Overview

Supporting the Vision, Values, Purpose and Commitments of Fraser Health including service delivery that is centered around patients/clients/residents and families: The Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) supports expert nursing care to patients/residents/clients/families and functions as a clinical leader in a particular specialty area within a designated health service area, regional network and/or designated clinical program as determined/assigned by the Executive Director, Clinical Operations. Provides leadership and focuses on improving client outcomes and quality of care by advancing nursing practice in the area of specialty and through the use of advanced practice and evidence-based practices; provides professional oversight and guidance to clinical nurse educators (CNE) and clinical resource nurses (CRN) related to educational priorities and participates in the evaluation of clinical performance. Responsibilities 1. Exemplifies and promotes excellence in nursing practice in a specialty area through activities such as: Maintaining practice currency and excellence through involvement with selected client groups; Utilizing practice opportunities to provide expert nursing consultation for clients or groups of clients to evaluate nursing practice and to provide clinical learning experiences for nurses; Influencing nursing practice by participating in client care advocacy issues directed towards improving practice and the quality of client care; Acting as a role model for professional practice by integrating all components of the professional role: clinical practice, consultation, collaboration, leadership, education, research, quality improvement and related scholarly activities; Collaborating with other health care disciplines: managers and directors in the hospital/community to develop effective client care programs; Participating in provincial/national groups related to specialty; and Coordinating expert consultation for select small/discrete numbers of clients. 2. Provides consultation to primary care providers, community groups and other service providers in the area of specialty; works collaboratively with Directors, managers, educators and other staff within the designated health services area, regional network and/or designated clinical programs in the delivery of care through activities such as: Assisting the members of the interdisciplinary team with clinical decision-making and with planning, implementing and evaluating client programs; Participating in the development of client programs as required; Evaluating the effectiveness of the consultative process for client outcomes and team effectiveness; Providing leadership in the development, implementation and evaluation of standards of practice within the specialty area; and Using and/or developing evidence-based innovations to improve the quality of health care. 3. Provides leadership to nurses and other members of the interdisciplinary team in identifying learning needs of patients/residents and staff and to determine priorities for educational programs through activities such as: Contributing to an atmosphere conducive to learning; Providing leadership to CNEs in developing programs to assist nursing staff to meet performance expectations and standards of professional practice; Providing leadership and guidance to CNEs in implementing programs directly, as appropriate, using formal and informal teaching strategies; Collaborating with CNEs in developing and/or utilizing appropriate education tools to facilitate learning; Participating in basic and graduate nursing student education; and Participating in the education of nurses and members of the interdisciplinary team about standards of practice. 4. Supports nursing research and health services research to promote clinical knowledge development and research based clinical practice through activities such as: Demonstrating and promoting critical thinking which leads to the formulation of research questions and hypotheses; Assisting nurses to evaluate their own practice systematically and to identify pertinent care problems for investigation; Critiquing current research findings related to specialty area; disseminates the research findings and collaborates with colleagues in determining the effectiveness in the practice setting, for those relevant to the setting, designs and implements changes in practice; Assisting colleagues in research efforts; Conducting research by self or with others and disseminating findings in presentations and publications; and Identifying research opportunities and participating with academic partners in writing research proposals and accessing funds both internally. 5. Supports nurses in their practice across Fraser Health (FH) in their specialty area of practice requested through activities such as: Participating in nursing, authority-wide and/or community committees and network teams; Facilitating the design, implementation and evaluation of agency-wide education programs for nurses; Participating as a member of a teaching group for a specified short term initiative; and Participating in establishing the goals, objectives and standards of nursing practice related to their area of practice throughout the FH. 6. Collaborates with stakeholders in the redesign of systems and processes to enhance client/population outcomes related to their practice within the framework of the organizational strategic plan: Building capacity and sustainability of individual and organizational systems; Synthesizes organizational, legislative and sociopolitical influences on decision-making to design strategies to shape health policies and outcomes; and Articulates a clear vision for nursing within the context of the health care system. 7. Provides professional expertise to health care professionals external to the organization on matters related to nursing practice including clinical, research and educational activities. Qualifications Education and Experience Master's degree in Nursing. (Other graduate degrees may be considered depending on area of specialty). Five years' recent related nursing experience with three years' recent, related experience in a clinical area relevant to the area of speciality. Same practice qualifications as a staff nurse in the area required. Current practicing registration as a Registered Nurse with the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM). Competencies Demonstrates the leadership practices of the Fraser Health Leadership Framework of Clear, Caring and Courageous and creates the conditions for people to succeed. Professional/Technical Capabilities Ability to develop, implement and evaluate programs in area of clinical practice. Ability to perform in-depth holistic patient/family assessments, plans, implements and evaluates care for complex care situations and guides interdisciplinary team members in care planning. Ability to be an effective consultant for individuals and/or groups. Ability to conceptualize research questions and collaborate with researchers to conduct research. Ability to role model expert nursing practice. Ability to assist in the development of professional and leadership skills of the nursing staff. Ability to synthesize and utilize research findings in practice. Ability to present clinical/research work in a scholarly way. Prepared to be affiliated with a university school. Ability to operate related equipment including applicable software applications. Physical ability to perform the duties of the position.

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