The Practice of the Clinical Specialist in Nursing

Today, it is quite fashionable in nursing circles to be a so-called clinical specialist and to play a rather interesting role in the drama of patient care. This so-called clinical specialist role is loosely defined in instances where responsibility is not identified, where hours are vague and permissive, where relationships toward staff are unstructured and frequently troublesome, and which is, of course, day-oriented, and night or weekend unspecialized, feeble or entirely lacking. I am not discussing this type of nursing personnel at all. I am referring, in this paper, to the real clinical specialist; the nurse who has professed the belief that nursing the patient is her right, her privilege and her responsibility; a nurse who has obtained, through study and experience, the knowledge required and the skill, ability and the art to transform this knowledge into patient care practice.