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Clinical Nurse Specialists

History

The National League for Nursing Education first drew up a plan to create the clinical nurse specialist role in the 1940s. The first master's degree program opened in 1954 at Rutgers University; the only specialty offered at that time was psychiatric nursing. By 1970, clinical nurse specialty certification had become available in a number of fields in response to the increased specialization in health care, the development of new technologies, and the need to provide alternative, cost-efficient health care in the physician shortage of the 1960s. In 1995, the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists was founded to represent the professional, interests of clinical nurse specialists. The association formed the Statement Development Committee to develop the original NACNS Statement on Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education. The statement was published in 1998.

There are many benefits to utilizing CNSs in health care. "Research into clinical nurse specialist practice demonstrates outcomes such as reduced hospital costs and length of stay; reduced frequency of emergency room visits; improved pain management practices; increased patient satisfaction with nursing care; and reduced medical complications in hospitalized patients," according to NACNS.

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