Core Practice Outcomes for Clinical Nurse Specialists: A Revalidation Study.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Practice
• Healthcare Management
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Measuring clinical nurse specialist (CNS) practice outcomes is crucial for accountability, yet literature on the scope of reported outcomes is limited.
• The National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) outcomes list offers a potential framework for outcome measurement.
• Revalidating these outcomes is a key step toward a structured approach to outcome measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess CNSs' perceptions of the ongoing validity of the published NACNS outcomes.
• To determine the concordance between CNS outcomes and actual practice.
• To identify factors influencing the monitoring of CNS outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive study utilizing a web-based survey.
• Participants (n=347) rated 42 NACNS outcomes on frequency of accountability, importance to practice, and frequency of monitoring.
• Statistical analysis included assessing concordance and predictive relationships.

Main Results:

• Findings showed a strong concordance between the identified NACNS outcomes and current CNS practice.
• CNSs reported increased use of outcomes when they were included in job descriptions.
• Both outcome accountability and importance were significant predictors of outcome monitoring (p < .001).

Conclusions:

• The study validates the ongoing relevance and applicability of the NACNS-published outcomes.
• Nurse educators should align CNS curricula with the NACNS framework to ensure outcome congruence.
• These outcomes can serve as a conceptual framework for future CNS research and monitoring systems.