Caring--the work of the clinical nurse specialist

Understanding the contribution of clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) to quality patient care is important for educators and administrators as they plan for the care of patients in an increasingly complex health care system. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical practice of CNSs as reported by practicing CNSs. Grounded theory methodology was used in collecting and analyzing the data. The subjects consisted of a theoretical sample of 17 Master's prepared CNSs who had functioned in the role of the CNS for a minimum of 1 year, and three recorded case studies from the literature. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted by the principle investigator. Using the constant comparative method, the data were line-coded and clustered to form groups of data that could be labeled as constructs. When theoretical saturation was reached, no further interviews were conducted. The investigators proposed that caring was the basic social psychological process (BSP), which was validated in a literature review. Scientific caring included investigating and teaching. Humanistic caring included creating-the-new, showing-the-way, working-with-others, and taking-care-of-the-environment. CNSs took care of the caretakers as well as the patients and their families.