The Clinical Nurse Leader--new nursing role with global implications

This paper describes the development of the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL ©) role and education, the CNL's impact and potential to improve quality globally.

The need for clinical nurse leadership to improve the quality of health care systems while controlling costs is recognized in reports internationally. In the USA, a new nursing role, the CNL, was developed in response to such reports.

CNLs are master's level nurse graduates (although not necessarily recruited from a nursing background) with the skills and knowledge to create change within complex systems and improve outcomes while they remain direct care providers. This innovative role can be adapted worldwide to improve the quality of health care systems.