Guidelines for clinical nurse specialist education

A recent survey of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) programs found significant differences among the programs in the number of classroom and clinical hours required and some variation in curricular content. To address these differences, the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) developed Guidelines for Clinical Nurse Specialist Education and charged the Education Committee of NACNS with testing and refining them. This article describes the methods used by the Education Committee to test and refine the Guidelines and presents the finalized document. The 18 Guidelines provide quality indicators for CNS programs in the areas of organization and faculty, program admissions, curriculum, clinical resources and experiences, and program evaluation. NACNS recommends that these Guidelines be used in addition to accreditation standards to evaluate CNS programs and to guide development of new CNS programs.     

Complexity science education for clinical nurse researchers

Nurse researchers-in-training learn that traditional research methods aligning with the positivist paradigm are suitable for evaluating the effects of clinical interventions. Preferred research methods (such as the randomized controlled trial) are based on assumptions that linear cause-and-effect relationships are discoverable through careful manipulation of variables under controlled conditions. Yet clinical intervention trials in practice are much more often done in environments which are in constant states of flux, with dynamic and unpredictable variables rather than settings where uniformity and control are routine. Graduate nursing programs should expose students with interests in clinical research to methods that will enable them to make sense of how to evaluate clinical interventions in real world conditions. In this paper, we discuss the relevance of concepts from the field of Complexity Science—with a focus on Complex Adaptive Systems—to clinical research and examine their potential value to guide nursing research that informs evidence-based nursing interventions. We argue that the introduction of these concepts into graduate nursing curricula is fundamental to the preparation of future nurse scientists who will address the complex healthcare problems of this century.     

The clinical specialist-staff nurse research team: a model for clinical research

Increasing sophistication in nursing research has created a demand for preliminary work before the completion of a design for a major research project. This report presents a method which meets this need and provides research experience to nurses working on the clinical units. The role of the doctorally prepared clinical nurse specialist (CNS) in promoting collaborative research is presented. For the staff nurse the purpose of this collaboration was to facilitate an introduction of nursing research during the completion of her BSN. A secondary purpose was to provide the doctorally prepared CNS with preliminary data on the effects of nursing care on preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Through collaborative effort, a research protocol was developed and implemented with four preterm infants. The successful completion of this project provided the CNS with preliminary data and the staff nurse with a better understanding of the complexities as well as the rewards of clinical nursing research.     

An overview of the ethics of cyber-space research and the implication for nurse educators

This paper provides an overview of the techniques available to the cyber-space researcher together with a consideration of the specific ethical issues that such research generates. It is acknowledged that these research methods are, at present, not widely utilised within health care sciences, thus this paper draws upon the experiences and debates that are current within other disciplines, predominantly those of the social sciences. The primary areas of ethical concern are suggested to be those surrounding consent, privacy, identification verification and disguise. These issues are further considered for their implications for nurse educators and for those academics that are either undertaking cyber-space research of their own or supervising student's Internet-based research projects.