Abstract
Background/Purpose: The Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) profession globally and across the US is facing challenges including workforce shortage and low CNS academic program enrollment. Role confusion and dissemination of outcomes directly tied to CNS practice may contribute to the issue. This study aims to address this gap by adapting a validated time in motion instrument, originally developed in Canada, to gather comprehensive data on the practice of the CNS in diverse care settings across southern California. The purpose of phase 1 is to ensure that the CNS time in motion instrument is tailored to the local healthcare environment.
Methods: The overarching study is a multi-site sequential mixed methods study divided into 3 phases. This presentation focuses on phase 1, instrument adaptation. This phase involves the use of focus groups of CNSs, non-CNS nurses, and key stakeholders to incorporate critical feedback regarding cultural and regional practice details into the instrument. This phase will also involve initial validity and reliability testing of the adapted instrument. Collaboration with the original instrument’s creator will add to the methodological rigor.
Expected Outcomes: The expected outcome of phase 1 includes the successful adaptation and validation of the instrument. The focus group data are expected to yield a culturally relevant and context specific instrument that accurately reflects CNS practice and will allow for precise data collection and meaningful CNS activity metrics. This phase of the study will facilitate the next phases of the study, observing CNS activities, developing a dashboard that displays key CNS practice metrics, and analyzing the impact on patient and organizational outcomes.
Significance: A dashboard that clearly shows the link between CNS practice and outcomes has the potential to demonstrate the value of the CNS role and provide clarity in role confusion. These insights could shape future CNS practice, policy decisions, and organizational resource allocation.
Notes
References:
Carroll, C., Flucke, N., & Barton, A. J. (2013). The use of dashboards to monitor quality of care. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 27(2), 61-62.
Kilpatrick, K. (2011). Development and validation of a time and motion tool to measure cardiology acute care nurse practitioner activities. Canadian Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 21(4).
Kilpatrick, K., Lavoie-Tremblay, M., Ritchie, J. A., Lamothe, L., Doran, D., & Rochefort, C. (2012). How are acute care nurse practitioners enacting their roles in healthcare teams? A descriptive multiple-case study. International journal of nursing studies, 49(7), 850-862.
Salamanca-Balen, N., Seymour, J., Caswell, G., Whynes, D., & Tod, A. (2018). The costs, resource use and cost-effectiveness of clinical nurse specialist–led interventions for patients with palliative care needs: a systematic review of international evidence. Palliative Medicine, 32(2), 447-465.
Toth, C., Miller, K., Hart, A., & Kidd, M. (2024). Clinical Nurse Specialist Role Advocacy: Quantifying the Financial Contributions Via Development of a Scorecard. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 38(2), 91-97.
Tracy, M. F. (2015). Demonstrating the value of clinical nurse specialists in acute and critical care. AACN advanced critical care, 26(1), 33-34.
Sigma Membership
Zeta Mu at-Large
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Acute Care, Instrument and Tool Development, Workforce, Clinical Nurse Specialists
Recommended Citation
Scott, Sheree A. and Kilpatrick, Kelley, "Instrument Adaptation Through Focus Group Insights of Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 65.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/posters_2025/65
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Instrument Adaptation Through Focus Group Insights of Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice
Seattle, Washington, USA
Background/Purpose: The Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) profession globally and across the US is facing challenges including workforce shortage and low CNS academic program enrollment. Role confusion and dissemination of outcomes directly tied to CNS practice may contribute to the issue. This study aims to address this gap by adapting a validated time in motion instrument, originally developed in Canada, to gather comprehensive data on the practice of the CNS in diverse care settings across southern California. The purpose of phase 1 is to ensure that the CNS time in motion instrument is tailored to the local healthcare environment.
Methods: The overarching study is a multi-site sequential mixed methods study divided into 3 phases. This presentation focuses on phase 1, instrument adaptation. This phase involves the use of focus groups of CNSs, non-CNS nurses, and key stakeholders to incorporate critical feedback regarding cultural and regional practice details into the instrument. This phase will also involve initial validity and reliability testing of the adapted instrument. Collaboration with the original instrument’s creator will add to the methodological rigor.
Expected Outcomes: The expected outcome of phase 1 includes the successful adaptation and validation of the instrument. The focus group data are expected to yield a culturally relevant and context specific instrument that accurately reflects CNS practice and will allow for precise data collection and meaningful CNS activity metrics. This phase of the study will facilitate the next phases of the study, observing CNS activities, developing a dashboard that displays key CNS practice metrics, and analyzing the impact on patient and organizational outcomes.
Significance: A dashboard that clearly shows the link between CNS practice and outcomes has the potential to demonstrate the value of the CNS role and provide clarity in role confusion. These insights could shape future CNS practice, policy decisions, and organizational resource allocation.
Description
This study aims to collect comprehensive data regarding the role and outcomes of the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in care settings across southern California. The first phase of the study will focus on adapting a CNS practice time in motion instrument, originally developed in Canada. This phase aims to adapt the instrument to ensure cultural and regional relevance using focus group methodology.