The Clinical Nurse Leader: Helping Psychiatric Mental Health Nurses Transform Their Practice

Abstract

The national movement to transform the health care delivery systems must include a focus on mental health treatment. To address similar deficits across other practice domains, the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) role has been created. The CNL is a master's degree that prepares a nurse to use a systems perspective to improve outcomes for a cohort of patient, deliver care based on best practices, and coordinate care in a multidisciplinary team. Applying the CNL role to mental health care could help psychiatric mental health nursing be at the forefront in the transformation of mental health care delivery.