Biomaterial Database

Nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists: are the roles merging? 1990

R G Elder, and B Bullough

Although the origins of clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) are different, some nurse educators believe that the roles of these advanced specialists should merge, while others believe that, from a philosophical point of view the roles are distinct, and should be kept separate. In order to throw light on this controversy, CNS and NP alumnae from a Master of Science program in upper New York State were surveyed. Graduates of the past 10 years were asked about their current role functioning, satisfaction with their work and career choice, and opinions about a number of professional issues, including the merging of NP and CNS preparation. The most impressive finding was the overlapping functions and opinions of the graduates actually involved in the clinical role. Although differences in traditional areas associated with the two groups were noted, they were not nearly as large as the literature suggest. The majority of the graduates supported the merging of the two roles. Such a merger has advantages for both types of specialists, nursing school curriculums, the health care system, and ultimatley the consumer.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007587	Job Description	Statement of the position requirements, qualifications for the position, wage range, and any special conditions expected of the employee.	Position Description,Description, Job,Description, Position,Descriptions, Job,Descriptions, Position,Job Descriptions,Position Descriptions
D007588	Job Satisfaction	Personal satisfaction relative to the work situation.	Work Satisfaction,Job Satisfactions,Satisfaction, Job,Satisfaction, Work,Satisfactions, Job,Satisfactions, Work,Work Satisfactions
D009720	Nurse Clinicians	Registered nurses who hold Master's degrees in nursing with an emphasis in clinical nursing and who function independently in coordinating plans for patient care.	Clinical Nurse Specialists,Clinical Nurse Specialist,Nurse Specialist, Clinical,Nurse Specialists, Clinical,Specialist, Clinical Nurse,Specialists, Clinical Nurse,Clinician, Nurse,Clinicians, Nurse,Nurse Clinician
D009722	Nurse Practitioners	Nurses who are specially trained to assume an expanded role in providing medical care under the supervision of a physician.	Nurse Practitioner,Practitioner, Nurse,Practitioners, Nurse
D010559	Personnel Management	Planning, organizing, and administering all activities related to personnel.	Client-Staff Ratio,Client Staff Ratio,Client-Staff Ratios,Management, Personnel,Ratio, Client-Staff,Ratios, Client-Staff
D011364	Professional Practice	The use of one's knowledge in a particular profession. It includes, in the case of the field of biomedicine, professional activities related to health care and the actual performance of the duties related to the provision of health care.	Practice, Professional,Practices, Professional,Professional Practices
D011795	Surveys and Questionnaires	Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions.	Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001291	Attitude of Health Personnel	Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.	Staff Attitude,Attitude, Staff,Attitudes, Staff,Health Personnel Attitude,Health Personnel Attitudes,Staff Attitudes