Role overlap between clinical nurse specialists and nursing unit managers

Role ambiguity is a serious and costly phenomenon that the healthcare delivery system can ill afford. Classically, it results from a lack of clarity or information concerning the expectations of a role, and it often results in several staff members undertaking the same activities. The resultant inefficiencies are costly to the organization because job satisfaction decreases and the number and quality of applicants for positions decline because people are unsure about the role and its functions. The authors describe an example of role ambiguity that resulted when the new classifications of nursing unit manager and clinical nurse specialist were introduced in New South Wales, Australia, in 1986.