Clinical Nurse Specialist

As per the current Public Health Orders (Long Term Care/Seniors Assisted Living Provincial Health Order and the Health Sector Order), as of October 26, 2021, all employees working for Providence Health Care must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Proof of vaccination status will be required.

Reporting to the Program Director for Program issues and the Chief of Professional Practice and Nursing for professional issues, the Clinical Nurse Specialist provides expert nursing care to patients/residents and families and functions as a clinical leader in a particular specialty within and/or across programs. Consults and collaborates with Clinical Group/Service Leaders, other nurses and health care professionals to improve and advance nursing practice and patient/resident outcomes both in the area of specialty and in nursing practice initiatives throughout Providence Health Care.

Education
Master's degree in Nursing. Current practicing registration with the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia. Five years of Nursing experience with three years of recent, related experience in a clinical area relevant to the area of specialty.

Skills and Abilities

Ability to develop, implement and evaluate programs in areas of clinical practice.

Ability to perform in-depth holistic patient/family assessments, plan, implement and evaluate care for complex care situations, and guide interdisciplinary team members in care planning.

Ability to be an effective consultant for individuals and groups.

Ability to conceptualize research questions and collaborate with researchers to conduct research.

Ability to role model expert nursing practice.

Ability to assist in the development of professional and leadership skills of the nursing staff.

Ability to synthesize and utilize research findings in practice.

Ability to present clinical/research work in a scholarly way.

Prepared to be affiliated with a university school.

Exemplifies and promotes excellence in nursing practice in a specialty area through activities such as:

--maintaining practice excellence through involvement with selected patient/resident groups .

--utilizing practice opportunities to provide expert nursing care to patients/residents or groups of patients, to evaluate nursing practice, and to provide clinical learning activities for nurses.

--influencing nursing practice by participating in patient/resident care advocacy issues directed toward improving practice and the quality of patient/resident care.

--acting as a role model for professional practice by integrating all components of the professional role: clinical practice, consultation, collaboration, leadership, education, research/evaluation.

--collaborating with other health care disciplines within the hospital and community to develop effective patient/resident care programs.

--participating in provincial/national groups related to specialty

--coordinating care for select patients/residents ie: as ?case manager?.



Provides consultation to nurses and other members of the interdisciplinary team, through activities such as:

--assisting the members of the interdisciplinary team with clinical decision-making and with planning, implementing, and evaluating patient/resident care.

--participating in the development of patient/resident care programs as required.

--evaluating the effectiveness of the consultative process for patient/resident outcomes as well as development of the consultee.

--providing leadership in the development, implementation, and evaluation of standards of practice within the specialty area.



Coordinates the evaluation of patient/resident care outcomes, identifies populations at risk, and proposes solutions through activities such as:

--evaluating current practice using a systematic process.

--recommending changes in practice in conjunction with leaders, nurses, and other members of the interdisciplinary team.

--using and/or developing evidence-based innovations to improve the quality of health care.



Provides leadership to nurses, leaders, and other members of the interdisciplinary team in identifying learning needs of patients/residents and staff and determine priorities for educational programs through activities such as:

--contributing to an atmosphere conducive to learning.

--developing programs to assist nursing staff to meet performance expectations and standards of professional practice.

--implementing programs directly, as appropriate, using formal and informal teaching strategies.

--developing and/or utilizing appropriate educational tools to facilitate learning.

--participating in basic and graduate nursing student education.

--participating in the education of nurses and members of the interdisciplinary team about standards of practice.



Supports nursing research to promote clinical knowledge development and research-based clinical practice through activities such as:

--demonstrating and promoting critical thinking which leads to the formulation of research questions and hypotheses.

--assisting nurses to evaluate their own practice systematically and to identify pertinent care problems for investigation.

--critiquing current research findings related to specialty area. Disseminates the research findings and collaborates with colleagues in determining the effectiveness in our practice setting, for those relevant to our setting, designs and implements changes in practice.

--assisting colleagues in research efforts.

conducting research by self, or with others, and disseminating findings in presentation or publication.

--identifying research opportunities and administers the research projects performing duties including writing research proposal, developing and designing budget parameters, sourcing funding from internal and external partners, hiring/firing research staff, monitoring funds/expenditures and providing detailed reports to senior staff.



Supports nurses in their practice across Providence Health Care in programs/initiatives as requested through activities such as:

--participating in nursing, agency-wide, and/or community committees.

--facilitating in the design, implementation and evaluation of agency wide education programs for nurses

--participating as a member of a teaching group for a specified short term initiative

--participating in establishing the goals, objectives, and standards of nursing practice throughout the hospital.



Provides professional expertise to health care professionals external to the organization on matters related to nursing practice including clinical, research and educational activities.



Performs other duties as assigned.