Challenges in Clinical Nurse Specialist Education and Practice.

Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) are well-positioned to participate in the transformation of healthcare as outlined by the Institute of Medicine and called upon by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. CNSs exercise their expertise through population-based care across three spheres of influence (patient/family, nurses/other professionals, systems). However, challenges during the educational process as well as implementation in practice can be barriers to optimization of the role, denying the public full benefit from the potential of CNSs. This article highlights some of the issues and provides solutions for mitigating these difficulties.