The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses announced revisions to its scope and standards guide for acute care clinical nurse specialists, according to a June 13 news release.
Revisions largely focus on a consensus model for advanced practice registered nursing regulation and a push to recognize clinical nurse specialists as APRNs.
"Acute care [clinical nurse specialists] provide clinical leadership and support to staff while remaining at the forefront of meeting patient care quality and safety, and organizational needs," Mary Stahl, MSN, RN, AACN clinical practice specialist said in a statement.
"It is important, now more than ever, to recognize their specific skills and competencies to support the patient and family, nursing staff and the organization."
Other updates included in this revision are:
- More guidelines and emphasis around diversity and inclusion related to the scope of acute care nursing.
- Takeaways for the profession from the pandemic.
- Sample job description write-ups for clinical nurse specialist positions.
- Standards of professional performance.
- Guidelines around advocacy work.
- Examples for integrating new standards into clinical practice.
Editor's note: This article was updated June 14 at 7:52 p.m. CT to reflect an update from the AACN.