Envisioning an integrated clinical nurse specialist role in primary care and primary health care for health care reform in New Brunswick: a modified Delphi study of key stakeholders' perspectives

Abstract

The Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) role, (with nurse practitioners [NPs]), is one of two recognized advanced practice nursing roles in Canada. Over the last decade, CNS integration in the New Brunswick (NB) healthcare system has lagged far behind that of NPs. A community-based exploratory-action project (with formal partnership [MOU] between Nurses Association of New Brunswick and University of New Brunswick), engaged stakeholder participants in a modified Delphi-Deliberative Dialogue, to explore how system-level integration of CNSs might strengthen health human resources for healthcare reform in NB. This report presents NB CNS stakeholders' perspectives on potential CNS role contributions to healthcare reform and their views about renewed advocacy for the CNS role in NB. Based on participants' reviews and discussion of recent CNS-related literature from the Canadian Nurses Association, the project offers recommendations to support their calls for renewed advocacy for sustainable integration of the CNS role in NB.