clinical lead nurse personal statement

How to Become a Clinical Nurse Leader

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• Career Overview
• Steps to Become
• Education Options
• Licensure and Certification

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Clinical nurse leaders are responsible for nursing teams, including care quality and patient outcomes. They typically work in hospitals, but may work in other healthcare settings. They lead teams or departments, teach and mentor nurses, and implement nursing policies based on evidence-based practices.

This guide describes how to become a clinical nurse leader. Keep reading to learn about the required education and certification, and what work is like for clinical lead nurses.

how long to become

Degree required, job outlook, what is a clinical nurse leader.

Clinical nurse leaders oversee nursing teams or departments and are responsible for coordinating patient care. Clinical lead nurses must have at least a master of science in nursing (MSN) degree to become certified.

Most clinical nurse leaders work in hospitals and health systems, though they may also work in mental health facilities, clinics and urgent care centers, or independent practices. They may work as charge nurses, nursing team leaders, or in other leadership roles. Their responsibilities include team management, mentoring and training, quality assessment and improvement, and strategic planning.

Steps to Becoming a Clinical Nurse Leader

To become a clinical nurse leader, you must become an RN, gain RN experience, earn an MSN and attain certification.

Earn an ADN or BSN Degree.

To become a nurse, you must earn either a two-year ADN or a four-year BSN degree . If you do not have the BSN, once you have RN experience, you can enroll in an RN-to-BSN bridge program or an RN-to-MSN program.

Find MSN programs

Pass the nclex exam to receive rn licensure., gain clinical nursing experience., earn an msn degree for clinical nurse leaders., become a certified clinical nurse leader..

The final step is board certification after passing the certifying examination. You must apply with documentation of your license, educational qualifications, and experience. To maintain your certification, you must participate in continuing education and renew your certification on a regular basis. You must also maintain a current and unencumbered nursing license.

Clinical Nurse Leader Education

Clinical lead nurses need at least a master’s degree in nursing. Some options include earning a BSN and MSN degree separately or pursuing an RN to MSN bridge program. Students can typically earn an MSN in 2-4 years depending on whether they have RN licensure before beginning the program.

Typically at least a 2.5 GPA; Some programs require or strongly recommend a 3.25 GPA; courses in biology and chemistry.

Program Curriculum

Nursing skills; human anatomy and biology; infection prevention and control; communication skills; working with diverse populations; legal and ethical aspects of nursing

Time to Complete

Typically four years

Skills Learned

Taking vital signs; using medical equipment; using feeding and breathing tubes; maintaining a hygienic environment; drawing blood and taking other samples; safe nursing practices in lifting and moving patients; maintaining health records

Typically a 3.0 GPA; current and unencumbered RN license; at least one year of experience as an RN; two or more years of experience strongly preferred by many programs

Advanced nursing theory; statistics and research; informatics, leadership.

Typically two years

Evidence-based nursing practice; analyzing and interpreting data and research; leadership and communications; teaching and mentoring

Clinical Nurse Leader Licensure and Certification

CNL certification, offered by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing , is not legally required to work as a clinical lead nurse, but employers may require or strongly prefer it. To earn your certification, you must provide documentation that you meet the application qualifications (an MSN, experience, and an current and unencumbered nursing license) and pass the certification examination. The examination is multiple choice.

Working as a Clinical Nurse Leader

Clinical lead nurses are responsible for nursing administration, including budgeting, staffing, and informatics. They are also responsible for strategy, quality assessment and improvement, leadership, and staff development.

In a large hospital or health system, a clinical lead nurse might be responsible for just a particular nursing team or function, while in a smaller setting, such as a clinic, they might be responsible for the entire nursing function.

Salaries for clinical nurse leaders are comparable to other roles that require an MSN. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), reports a median salary of $101,340 for all healthcare managers.

Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming a Clinical Nurse Leader

Are clinical nurse leaders the same as clinical nurse specialists.

Clinical nurse leaders and clinical nurse specialists both have graduate degrees in nursing and board certification. Yet, clinical nurse leader programs and certification focus on leadership and management, while clinical nurse specialists focus on a particular clinical area, such as geriatrics, palliative care, or emergency care.

What skills are important for clinical nurse leaders?

Clinical nurse leaders must be detail-oriented, have excellent communication skills, and understand the principles of administration. They must also make evidence-based decisions, motivate and inspire others, and collaborate with different departments and personnel.

What do clinical nurse leaders do?

Clinical nurse leaders are responsible for leading nursing teams, functions, or departments. They are responsible for nursing quality and outcomes, along with efficiency. They set priorities, lead the implementation of evidence-based practices, analyze outcomes, and adjust nursing practices based on outcomes, and manage staffing.

Where do clinical nurse leaders work?

Clinical nurse leaders typically work in hospitals and health systems, but they can work in any setting where nursing care is provided, such as clinics, military bases, or urgent care centers. They may also lead public health initiatives.

Last reviewed: May 27, 2022

Related Pages

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Online Clinical Nurse Leader Programs

Clinical nurse leaders manage and improve nursing processes and practices. Learn about the best clinical nurse leader programs online.

CNL vs. CNS: What’s the Difference?

Review the similarities and differences between a CNL and CNS including both positions’ salary and career outlook, responsibilities and roles, and required education.

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Understanding the role of the Clinical Nurse Leader

The Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) credential is so new that many people don’t know what it is. The CNL role emerged, after several years of research and discussion, as a way to allow master’s-prepared nurses to stay at the patient’s side to oversee and manage care delivery. Created by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the role was designed in collaboration with representatives from a wide range of healthcare leadership and expertise.

What CNLs do CNLs communicate, plan, and implement care directly with other clinicians, including clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), nurse practitioners, physicians, pharmacists, and social workers. Neither administrators nor managers, we oversee lateral integration of care for a distinct group of patients. In complex situations, we may actively provide direct patient care. CNLs are accountable for healthcare outcomes for a specific group of patients within a unit or other setting. We assimilate and apply research-based information to develop, implement, and evaluate plans of care, thus ensuring that patients benefit from the latest healthcare innovations. As clinical decision makers and care managers, we coordinate the direct care activities of other nursing staff and healthcare professionals. We also gather and evaluate patient outcomes and have the authority to change plans of care, when necessary. The CNS role complements the advanced practice nurse (APN) role. For instance, a CNL may consult with a CNS when a specialized area of concern arises.

Educational preparation To become a CNL, you’ll need to attend a master’s program that meets AACN requirements. (Unlike an APN, the CNL candidate doesn’t receive specialist education in a defined practice area.) After graduation, you’ll need to pass a national certification exam to use the title of CNL.

A day in my life as a CNL The CNL role is implemented variably from one setting to the next. I’ll use my own job activities to illustrate how some facilities implement it. I work in a 24-bed medical unit at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, which implemented the CNL role in January 2006. At this 180-bed pediatric hospital, which partners with a large academic institution, the CNL is considered lateral to the nurse manager and has 24-hour accountability for all clinical care provided on the unit. I spend most of my time on the unit with nurses and patients, but don’t take a direct patient assignment or handle management issues. My work complements that of the CNS who serves this unit. My sole focus is the unit, whereas the CNS focuses on several units. I act as the bedside resource, whereas the CNS designs formal educational programs for staff. I’m closely involved with patients on the unit; the CNS is available to consult when needed. Each day, I briefly review medical records for all patients on the unit. This gives me a chance to assess each patient’s plan of care for the upcoming shift and to plan for the patient’s entire hospital experience. From this review, I identify the day’s “hot spots,” such as patient discharge needs, procedures, or plan-of-care clarification. Next, I collaborate with each staff nurse on the unit, quickly reviewing concerns for each patient as well as daily discharge planning. After assessing data from the chart reviews and nursing staff, I participate in physician rounds. I assess the most critically ill patients, participate in family education, and go on daily rounds with each patient and family. During these rounds, I review the plan of care with the family. Frequently, the family has questions about their child’s condition, which I can address or arrange for members of other disciplines to address.

Integrating care laterally Integrating the plan of care laterally with other disciplines is a key component of my role. I present the concerns of multiple disciplines as well as those of the patient and family (if needed) to the discipline that needs to take action. For example, nursing concerns about feeding issues can be addressed with the speech therapy and nutrition departments, whose recommendations can be taken to the physician. Recently, a child on my unit needed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan with sedation. She was living with her grandmother while her mother was out of state. To ensure that consent was obtained rapidly so the procedure wouldn’t be delayed, I coordinated with the social work, MRI, and anesthesia departments as well as the child’s mother. My actions allowed the bedside nurse to spend more time with patients.

Navigator, patient advocate, and problem solver As an expert clinical resource for the unit, I help staff nurses navigate the complex hospital system. I help staff nurses identify potential patient problems, including deteriorating physical conditions that need immediate attention. In one case, a child returned from surgery with a chest tube. The nurse had no experience caring for a child with a chest tube—but I was available to help her assess the patient and teach her about patient care.

Seeing the big picture Beyond my daily unit responsibilities, I assess the “big picture,” initiating changes when necessary and identifying areas where staff members need additional education. My CNL preparation enables me to evaluate and change system processes that don’t function as they should. Where staff nurses look for ways to solve immediate problems, I seek a solution to solve the problems for all similar patients by repairing the process. I also review unit policies to ensure they’re based on best practice and evidence, and have updated or developed multiple policies. For instance, I developed an oral hydration maintenance protocol for nurses and have worked closely with physicians to create an order set based on evidence for bronchiolitis. I also created a quick-reference notebook for nursing care of patients with complex respiratory problems. The notebook includes policies, up-to-date reference articles, and “to do” lists for patient admission, each shift, and during transport. Using these lists has relieved staff anxiety over meeting patient care needs. For more formal education needs, I refer staff to the CNS.

Challenges of the CNL role One of the most challenging things about being a CNL is defining my role within the organization—and standing firm. CNLs have diverse and valuable skills that can be applied in many areas away from the unit. They must commit to staying on the unit, helping nurses and patients, for the vast majority of their time.

Positive staff response At Wolfson, response to the CNL role has been positive. Physicians are enthusiastic about the input I provide during rounds. I’ve gotten positive feedback from other professionals, too, because my actions allow them to get involved in care earlier during patients’ hospital stays. Overwhelmingly, staff nurses on my unit support the CNL role. I provide consistency to care in a unit where most nurses work 12-hour shifts. I fill in gaps for them, stay available on the unit for support and answers, and handle complex patient issues. The CNL role has been well integrated into this pediatric acute-care setting, and is being implemented on three other hospital units.

Selected references American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Tool Kit for the Implementation of the Clinical Nurse Leader Guide for Practice and Academic Partners. May 2006. www.aacn.nche.edu/CNL/toolkit.htm. Accessed April 29, 2008. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. White Paper on the Education and Role of the Clinical Nurse Leader. February 2007. www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/WhitePapers/CNL2-07.pdf. Accessed April 29, 2008. Bowcutt M, Goolsby M. The Clinical Nurse Leader: promoting patient centered outcomes. Nurs Adm Q. 2006;30:156-151. Wiggins MS. The partnership care delivery model. J Nurs Adm. 2006; 36:334-335.

Amanda B. Brown is a Clinical Nurse Leader on the Pediatric Medical Unit at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla.

1 Comment .

what code of ethics does a CNL use to guide their practice

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Clinical Nurse Leader Resume Sample

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Create a Resume in Minutes with Professional Resume Templates

Work Experience

• Develops a partnership with care providers and patient/family and ensures that patient goals are set with patient and patient�s family involvement
• Develops and utilizes tools available to effectively evaluate, summarize and communicate patient�s progress toward outcomes to members of the healthcare team, patient, and family
• Current licensure to practice professional nursing in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Life Support Certification: BLS
• BCLS required ACLS required
• Telemetry RN experience required
• Certification for Nurse Educators (CNE) required
• Experience in tertiary care academic hospital organization in nursing education required
• Collects, analyzes nursing sensitive outcome data and collaborates with manager to develop plan to improve performance
• Collaborates with manager, clinical nursing instructor and AH leaders to develop strategies to improve performance at unit level
• Monitors patient satisfaction and preparation for discharge scores and works with nursing staff to improve levels of performance
• Practices autonomously to provide holistic assessments of patients
• Uses data to design individually tailored interventions, evaluations, and readiness for discharge. This includes assessing for physical and cognitive risks, ; initiating interdisciplinary plans of care and evaluating outcomes
• Promotes health maintenance in patients through education regarding disease processes, symptoms and treatments

Professional Skills

• Strong educational skills and abilities
• Leadership ability as demonstrated by previous performance to lead healthcare team to effectively demonstrate and sustain positive patient care outcomes
• Exemplifies strong leadership and conflict resolution skills
• Demonstrates expert level knowledge and skills necessary to provide care to unit population
• Modeling/Role-modeling listening skills that provide a supportive caring environment and promote goal attainment
• Utilizes expert knowledge and skills at the micro system level to improve patient population
• Three (3) years of clinical experience in an acute care setting that includes at least one (1) year in ICU

How to write Clinical Nurse Leader Resume

Clinical Nurse Leader role is responsible for modeling, government, oncology, design, education, research, health, leadership, articulate, mentoring. To write great resume for clinical nurse leader job, your resume must include:

• Your contact information
• Work experience
• Skill listing

Contact Information For Clinical Nurse Leader Resume

The section contact information is important in your clinical nurse leader resume. The recruiter has to be able to contact you ASAP if they like to offer you the job. This is why you need to provide your:

• First and last name
• Telephone number

Work Experience in Your Clinical Nurse Leader Resume

The section work experience is an essential part of your clinical nurse leader resume. It’s the one thing the recruiter really cares about and pays the most attention to. This section, however, is not just a list of your previous clinical nurse leader responsibilities. It's meant to present you as a wholesome candidate by showcasing your relevant accomplishments and should be tailored specifically to the particular clinical nurse leader position you're applying to. The work experience section should be the detailed summary of your latest 3 or 4 positions.

Representative Clinical Nurse Leader resume experience can include:

• Excellent interpersonal skills, and an exceptional level of energy and vitality
• Experience of current Labor and Delivery clinical experience required
• Demonstrates clinical competency and compassion in providing care, using technology, administering medications, performing procedures and managing emergencies
• Organizes and prioritizes work of patient care team by ensuring synergy of patient needs and nursing expertise
• Assesses and evaluates patient care processes for effectiveness, initiating change when indicated
• Leads interdisciplinary patient rounds to promote the diffusion of evidenced based practice

Education on a Clinical Nurse Leader Resume

Make sure to make education a priority on your clinical nurse leader resume. If you’ve been working for a few years and have a few solid positions to show, put your education after your clinical nurse leader experience. For example, if you have a Ph.D in Neuroscience and a Master's in the same sphere, just list your Ph.D. Besides the doctorate, Master’s degrees go next, followed by Bachelor’s and finally, Associate’s degree.

Additional details to include:

• School you graduated from
• Major/ minor
• Year of graduation
• Location of school

These are the four additional pieces of information you should mention when listing your education on your resume.

Professional Skills in Clinical Nurse Leader Resume

When listing skills on your clinical nurse leader resume, remember always to be honest about your level of ability. Include the Skills section after experience.

Present the most important skills in your resume, there's a list of typical clinical nurse leader skills:

• Demonstrates clinical expertise while providing evidence based practice care
• Exhibits the communication and role modeling skills needed to engage staff in learning, practice changes, and professional growth and development
• Prior PICU and/or critical care experience required
• Using professional standards of care, scientific evidence, and practice to evaluate programs and/or service activities
• Assists staff to incorporate evidence-based knowledge into their daily nursing practice
• Demonstrate understanding and ensure the specific needs of patient population are met

List of Typical Experience For a Clinical Nurse Leader Resume

Experience for clinical nurse leader resume.

• Works with team members and other leaders to develop and trend performance improvement indicators based on national standards and evidenced based practices
• Educator/Preceptor experience required
• Collaborates and consults with a multidisciplinary health care team, including the patient, to develop direct a plan of care
• Articulates the individual's responses to illness and therapies considering their cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic, linguistic, religious, and lifestyle preferences
• Role models and facilitates appropriate teaching principles and strategies to meet patient/family education needs
• Leads and directs the clinical care of a specific patient population to improve outcomes in complex patient populations
• Evaluates clinical practice and critical thinking skills of nursing staff and provides both formal and informal educational and mentoring opportunities as indicated
• Monitors, trends and fosters quality of computerized documentation
• Contributes to the development of policies, procedures, and/or clinical guidelines
• Leadership and Change: The CNL provides clinical leadership to the nursing and interdisciplinary team to effectively manage transformational change and facilitate an empowered workforce
• Understands goals of the microsystem and how they fit into the macrosystem
• Understands the basics of health care finance, economics, and fiscal responsibility within the micro and macro systems
• Advocates for improvements in health care systems, policies, procedures, and the professional roles of nurses and other health care providers
• Manages immediate change at the point of care as it occurs
• Provides information to new care providers and reviews pertinent information for provision of care
• Accountable for the management and provision of patient care in assigned area
• Cultivates a culture of patient safety
• Knowledge Transfer: The CNL works closely with integrated and diverse teams, constantly sharing knowledge with a variety of different levels of staff and professional groups
• Facilitates learning of direct care providers and ensure safe practice
• Utilizes a variety of presentation formats to meet the need of diverse groups with in the health care team
• Coaches others to improve clinical outcomes
• Educates, coaches and assists team members to ensure optimum patient care and efficient use of resources
• Ensures assessment of learner needs
• Interdisciplinary Relationships: The CNL serves as the coordinator of care for a cohort of patients and utilizes effective communication skills while demonstrating respect for interdisciplinary team members
• Actively develops strong relationships and partnerships within the organization to improve patient outcomes
• Demonstrates knowledge of regulatory issues that direct care
• Collaborates with physicians, other services, patient and patient's family to plan care and evaluate outcomes
• Consults with physicians and other healthcare providers to communicate patient plan of care
• Assists with coordination and recommendations of healthcare resources on behalf of the patient
• Outcomes Management: The CNL maintains a functional knowledge of risk management and prevention, core measures, data analysis and evaluation in order to identify process improvements for nursing and interdisciplinary team members
• Ensures integration of safety and quality standards into practice and delivery of team care
• Minimizes at risk behavior in self and others
• Collaborates with others in quality and performance improvement efforts
• Collects and evaluates data on key patient outcomes on the unit
• Synthesizes data to positively influence care delivery and patient outcomes
• Clinician at the Point of Care. The CNL oversees the integration of care throughout the continuum for every patient in their cohort from admission through discharge
• Identifies barriers and solutions to patient care
• Provides or oversees patient and family education to understand illness and self care concepts
• Supports and advocates patients’ right to make decisions about care and treatment
• Cultivates a culture of safety
• Monitors the delivery of patient care through assessment of patient population daily
• Provides direct care as appropriate to complex patients
• Troubleshoots complex problems in patient care, documents findings and progress in patient record
• Ensures patient/family preparation for care across continuum
• Assesses patient’s response to treatment and care through other care provider information or by direct examination of patients on a daily basis
• Unit & Staff Management.Functions as a unit leader as needed, with the ability to act as a resource person (both clinically and non-clinically) for nursing personnel, physicians and providers
• Communication & Evaluation.Manages the performance of team members with the support of the Nurse Manager. Performs daily leader rounding, and assures that team members are regularly rounding on all patients to assure their comfort. Provides high-quality, patient-centered, clinical care
• Competitive hourly rates & benefits which begin on date of hire
• Leadership & advancement opportunities
• In a leadership role, serves as a liaison between the manager, staff and other areas within the organization
• Assessment – Identifies and utilizes appropriate evidence-based techniques and instruments to collect pertinent physiological, psychosocial, and functional data to formulate nursing diagnosis
• Documents medication, administration, functional care, intake and output, vital signs and other measure in SRAlab IS or utilizes downtime procedures
• Participates and shares information gained from involvement in professional nursing organizations and/or external nursing committees with staff. Contributes to the development of new nursing knowledge through publications, presentations or leadership activities
• Patient Care. Responsible for the success of the practice pillar goals, working closely with the triad leadership to achieve patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction, financial growth and quality goals that are aligned with the organizational goals
• Issue Resolution. Resolve any issue or concerns at the time of the rounding; follow up any concerns with lead physician and nurse manager; identify and know of all high-risk patients and ensure plan of care is current
• Ensure effective communication among all staff members
• Leading and organizing delivery of care to assure continuity of care and peer accountability for practice, including access to care and discharge planning
• Unit & Staff Management.Round on staff and physicians; resolve any issues or concerns found while rounding; complete rounding log and report to Nurse Manager; identify all high risk residents and ensure plan of care is current; ensure appropriate number of staff is available on unit at all times
• Communication & Evaluation.Ensure staff is recognized for hard work and jobs well done; communicate any staffing needs to Nurse Manager; coach staff privately when needed
• Collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team including support services
• Provide high quality, safe care to a complex group of oncology patients
• Directs overall patient flow in a safe and efficient manner
• Collaboration with the manager to monitor and maintain staff performance, patient outcomes, and achievement of overall goals of the department
• Supports the mission and upholds Hartford HealthCare core values

List of Typical Skills For a Clinical Nurse Leader Resume

Skills for clinical nurse leader resume.

• Experience as a CNL in an acute care setting
• Experience in Medicine
• Experience required
• Recent experience in the specialty area is required
• Leads/mentors team in evidenced based practice projects
• )-Related Experience-Required
• Registered Nurse experience in Psychiatry and/or Neurology required
• Registered Nurse experience in the Emergency Department is required
• Preceptor and/or leadership experience required
• Progressively responsible work experience in patient care or clinical research, preferably in an academic medical center environment
• Demonstrated leadership and communication abilities
• Using advanced clinical knowledge/judgment to promote staff involvement in planning, decision-making, and evaluating outcome
• Guiding, developing, and supporting staff from a leadership perspective,
• Coaching and mentoring direct reports by role modeling H3W behaviors
• Functioning as an expert in clinical practice and/or areas related to the assigned roles and responsibilities
• Mentors staff in cultivating a caring-healing-protective environment
• Assumes accountability for orienting patient/family to SRAlab, and identifying/evaluating high risk home discharges and coordinates follow-up phone calls
• Provides hands on nursing support and provides coaching, mentoring, and education for department clinical team
• Evaluates nursing practice to provide clinical learning opportunities for staff
• Systematically evaluating current practice, and formulating outcomes for groups of patients and/or organizational processes within an area of expertise
• Assist in implementing and sustaining new initiatives within the Inpatient Rehab Unit
• Works with unit leadership team to evaluate and improve nursing team functioning/vitality and interdisciplinary communication
• Possess a certification as Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) indicating completion of a formal CNL program.
• Participates in continuing education for self and the development of colleagues and future generations
• Utilizes the nursing process as the basis for systematic and creative management of patient care
• Assesses, plans, implements and evaluates educational programs utilizing principles of adult education
• Assures continuity of care as patients transition across the continuum through appropriate discharge planning, patient education and coordination of services
• Practices autonomously within the scope of professional nursing practice
• Leads and participates with the interdisciplinary team in planning delivery and evaluation of patient-focused care
• Facilitates full team discussions including patient and family when ethical dilemmas arise
• Active member in shared decision making model at unit level
• Improves practice by integrating practice changes based on current literature
• Provides direction and support to unit staff. Supervises admissions, conducts assessment of patient's needs, and initiates nursing care plans
• Develops partnerships with care providers, patients and families, ensuring appropriate goals are developed
• Actively utilizes event reporting systems
• Assesses patient's needs for nursing care and other services
• Carries a caseload of patients dependent upon the setting and nature of patients
• Rounds with clinicians including physicians, case managers and pharmacists daily to discuss patients’ progress
• Leads and participates with the interdisciplinary team in planning delivery and evaluation of patient focused care
• 5) AACN CNL Certification to be completed within 6 months of hire
• 6) ACLS & BLS Certification required
• Guides and instructs staff in their role as direct caregivers
• Demonstrates knowledge of essential education content; the most effective teaching and learning delivery methods; and the skills to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate learning activities for the adult learner
• Establishes formal and informal consultative relationships with management and/or staff to identify ongoing competency needs, methods of measuring competence, and strategies and goals to improve individual or group clinical performance issues
• Engages the work of systematic inquiry such as search for, interpretation and the use of evidence in clinical practice, quality improvement and participation in research
• Participates in organizational quality improvement efforts through competency assessments, provision of educational activities based on identified needs, evaluation of effectiveness of actions to improve performance, and communication of quality improvement results
• Collaborates with clinical staff, managers, directors, and other system leadership to provide educational activities that support the organization’s adoption and implementation of policies and procedures related to clinical practice standards
• Recommends specific educational program to build clinical skill-set of staff
• Ensures the effective education of the patient and patient’s family to prepare for discharge
• Individual able to provide written example of his/her characteristic of effective collaboration with teams to improve the quality of patient care outcomes
• RN experience
• Two years quality management experience within the federal government
• Cardiac RN experience required
• Provides input to nursing leadership on the educational needs and competency needs of staff
• Coordinates the delivery of care of the multiple disciplines actively involved in the patient’s care
• Works in collaboration with CNO/ACNO and the Professional Development Director to strategize on Nursing Practice Council Goals and Action Plans for the organization
• Shares information with staff and team related to program performance and assists with development of action plans to address problematic areas
• Reviews, evaluates and makes recommendations regarding Institute policies and procedures to insure they are evidence-based and bring most relevant research to clinical practice
• . Current national certification as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL)
• Demonstrated ability to serve as a primary leader/initiator for a changing program with flexibility and creativeness.Track record is excellence in planning, implementing and evaluating patient care programs.Demonstrated ability to implement and evaluate quality management programs to improve patient care needs
• Demonstrated ability in working knowledge of Joint Commission Standards, the specific care requirements of the patient within the acute hospital setting and behavioral health
• The ability to analyze data to assist healthcare team. Possess the ability to develop and manage unit projects to improve the quality of patient outcomes. Displays the ability to use evidence-based practice to assist the health care team to improve patient outcome
• Demonstrated consistent meeting time-lines
• Licensure:Current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a graduate professional nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States, or the District of Columbia
• Critical Care experience required
• Current practice as CNL in Inpt MH setting
• Five years successful increasingly complex RN nursing practice
• Current state licensure or eligibility for state licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) required
• Basic Life Support to be obtained within the first 30 days of employment
• Certified as a CNL by the Commission on Nurse Certification (CNC)
• Recent practice in CNL capacity
• Current, full, active Clinical Nurse Leader certification or within 8 months of program completion to become a Clinical Nurse Leader

List of Typical Responsibilities For a Clinical Nurse Leader Resume

Responsibilities for clinical nurse leader resume.

• Support team members and ensure quality service, excellence, and service recovery
• Collaborates with manager to set clear goals, expectations, and benchmarks for staff performance
• General Management. Perform daily leader rounding and assure team members are regularly rounding on all patients; develop programs and strategies to monitor the quality of patient care and patient outcomes; assist Nurse Manager in developing and implementing long-term staffing pattern, personnel needs, budget negotiation and recruitment plan
• General Management.Perform daily leader rounding and assure team members are regularly rounding on all patients; develop programs and strategies to monitor the quality of patient care and patient outcomes; assist Nurse Manager in developing and implementing long-term staffing pattern, personnel needs, budget negotiation and recruitment plan
• (LC:CNL-CERT) Certification as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) required
• 4 North has 26 private bed and care for Stroke and Older Adult Medicine. Scope of Care is the Care of Stroke and Older adult medicine patients. NICHE trained staff (Nursing Improving Care of Hospitalized Elders).Nursing specifically trained to assess and care for stroke patients
• Certification as a RNC-OB (or obtain within one year of employment)
• BCLS, ACLS, NRP and C-EFM certifications are required
• BCLS, PALS, and NRP certification required
• NewYork Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital is a equal opportunity employer
• BCLS and PALS required, NRP required
• Current NYS licensure is required
• BLS and ACLS required through the AHA
• New York State Registered Nurse License is required
• BLS, ACLS and PALS required through the American Heart Association
• Clinical Nurse Leader Certification
• Certified Joint Commission Professional
• Develops and utilizes tools available to effectively evaluate, summarize and communicate patient’s progress toward outcomes to members of the healthcare team and patient and family; ensures effective communication and flow of information to all appropriate care providers by obtaining appropriate comprehensive patient story and transmitting that effectively to care providers
• Patient Care. Perform initial and ongoing assessment of patient; demonstrate clinical judgment in responding to priority patient needs; communicate and document assessment of patient; develop and document plan of care, treatment and services; communicate with the patient/family and interdisciplinary team; ensure patient receives and understands education specific to their needs and abilities
• Patient Care.Perform initial and ongoing assessment of patient; demonstrate clinical judgment in responding to priority patient needs; communicate and document assessment of patient; develop and document plan of care, treatment and services; communicate with the patient/family and interdisciplinary team; ensure patient receives and understands education specific to their needs and abilities
• Proven excellent interpersonal relationship skills able to articulate and his/her effective communication with all levels of staff subordinates and leadership.Demonstration of collaborative approaches to patient care with the interdisciplinary team, and effective communication skills.Demonstrated ability to manage and lead in a patient centered care-focused environment

Related to Clinical Nurse Leader Resume Samples

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How to Write the Nursing School Personal Statement: Steps, Tips, And Samples

Introduction

A nursing career allows individuals to help patients in a nurturing environment, and to find their existential fulfillment. As a result, many learners decide to pursue a career in the field, and you are one of these individuals!

Eager to receive an acceptance letter? You know that you’ll need to submit the application material in a timely fashion, and part of that process involves crafting a stellar personal statement for nursing school.

According to a  report by CNN , many applicants are rejected from nursing schools, unfortunately. Even when you feel that you have solid writing skills, you must hone these talents and gear them specifically toward that nursing school personal statement.

After all, you are looking to boost your chances of acceptance. Following a process and learning key pointers about this essay will help you to succeed.

Preparatory Work

Don’t simply sit down at the computer and start clicking away on the keyboard. Crafting a compelling personal statement for your target nursing school involves a significant amount of preparatory work. As seasoned writers know, the art of writing is a process.

Step 1: Research the Schools

Each school is going to have its unique requirements, and you want to know what those requirements are. Researching different programs serves multiple purposes. For example, you can start to rank the programs in order of your preference. Secondly, you get to determine what schools are reach schools and which institutions are your safety schools.

This process will also help you to get a sense of how competitive your personal statement should be. The best According to a ranking of  2023 Best Colleges for Nursing in America , the University of Pennsylvania, Emory University, and Duke University are listed as the top three.

If you’re applying to one of those institutions, you should go through your personal statement with a fine-tooth comb!

Step 2: Write Freely

At some point in your educational career, you’ve likely been asked to write freely about a topic. As you start seeing the prompts from different nursing programs, feel free to type your ideas, preferably, in a word-processing program on your computer.

You could challenge yourself to address one or more of the following prompts:

• What was your reason for choosing nursing as a career? Do you have any additional information that you would like the admissions committee to know about you that has not been previously considered in the application? (2000 characters)
• Discuss your interest and understanding of the clinical nurse leader role.   What experiences have contributed to your interest?  (2000 characters)
• The goal of the Doctor of Nursing Program is to prepare nurse leaders at the highest level of nursing practice to improve patient outcomes and translate research into practice.  Describe experiences that exhibit your leadership skills. (2000 characters)
• Discuss the clinical specialty area you are interested in pursuing. What experiences have contributed to your interest? (2000 characters)
• Discuss a population of interest in your work setting. What experiences have you had with this population? What health care needs do you see in this target group? (2000 characters)

Check out more  nursing school personal statement questions .

While the schools to which you are applying might not ask the exact questions, you have at least started to get your creativity flowing in terms of what you might write.

Step 3: Talk to an Admissions Counselor

As you’re narrowing down your choice of nursing schools, consider scheduling an appointment with an admissions counselor. Aim to schedule an on-campus appointment if possible as this gives you a real feel of the school environment. Where it is impossible to get one, as with the current Covid-19 pandemic, consider a virtual or telephone appointment.

An admissions counselor will provide you with guidance that is specific to their nursing school’s acceptable personal statement. In other words, different schools have varying expectations. While the admissions counselor may not answer all your questions, you still have a chance to receive valuable insight.

Step 4: Review Genre Conventions

Whether you applying at the undergraduate level or graduate level, you are already familiar with certain genre conventions. What you must recognize is that a personal statement can be quite different from other academic pieces that you have done. Penn State offers some great pointers on  elements that characterize a personal statement .

For example, you might think that a personal statement needs to follow a five-paragraph format with a thesis statement as the last sentence of the introduction. While some personal statements take on this format, others employ a more reflective structure.

Step 5: Thoroughly Check Requirements

You want to make sure you know exactly how many nursing school personal statements you have to write for your application and what the requirements are for each one. Take an example from medical school. When students apply to medical school, they typically have to write one larger essay followed by several shorter ones.

Knowing the expectations of the specific programs to which you are applying can help you budget your time appropriately. Pay close attention to deadlines as well. Submitting an application after the posted deadline is a sure way to seriously lower your odds of getting admitted.

The Writing Process

Once you have completed the research phase and gathered preliminary information, you may think that you’re ready to craft the final version of your essay. However, writing is an intricate process. Allowing yourself adequate time to go through this process will heighten your chances of drafting a captivating essay.

Step 1: Print or Write down the Prompt

You must adhere to the prompt. Period. Keep in mind how crucial it is to follow protocols in the field of nursing. If you cannot follow the guidelines for a nursing school personal statement, the admissions committee may doubt your abilities in the field.

Printing out the prompt or jotting it down is quite useful because you can visually assess if you have checked off all of the requirements. Pay attention to how the prompt is worded. Further, note any length requirements; you may have to write at least a certain number of words or ensure that your essay does not exceed a specified number of characters.

When essays have character limits, make sure to find out if the character limit includes or excludes spaces. As you go through the writing process, you can check off each requirement on the prompt.

Step 2: Use a Brainstorming Strategy

I am confident you have great brainstorming techniques up your sleeves. If not, The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers some very handy  brainstorming techniques  that you could use.

Try to resist the urge to skip right ahead to the full first draft. Brainstorming allows you to get your ideas out. For example, you might look at the prompt and make a list of whatever ideas comes to your mind. You don’t need to worry about organizing them or fully developing the content yet. You could also craft a formal outline as you brainstorm ideas. See which strategy works best for you.

Some writers like to use the actual writing out of sentences as a brainstorming technique. With this approach, you could just write or type whatever ideas come to mind. Setting a timer for this activity is useful. Then, you can go back in to shape your ideas.

Step 3: Craft the First Draft

Writing can be intimidating. You might feel as though you are totally committing to whatever words you put on paper. But the drafting process helps to overcome this anxiety. Sitting down to write the first draft means that you know you will make changes. As a result, you do not feel as pressured.

For some, writing is an enjoyable process; for others, just the thought alone is enough stress and a nuisance. If you fall into the latter group, budget your time. You could allocate an hour each day for a week to put together the first draft. This strategy works even when you love writing.

Step 4: Start with What You Know

Many writers become so concerned with the first sentence of their introduction that they end up losing valuable ideas for the rest of the essay. For example, imagine that you have four main ideas that you would like to explore in your nursing school personal statement. Your natural inclination might be to write about the experience that happened earliest chronologically before you tackle the others.

Consider the fact that you might feel more comfortable writing about the second or third chronological experience instead. Start with those paragraphs. You can then build the essay around them. Getting started is often the most difficult part of a writing project, so starting with what you know can help to inspire the rest of the piece.

Step 5: Prioritize Higher-Order Issues

In writing, topics such as organization, addressing the prompt, and developing ideas are often considered more important than issues like grammar and spelling. Of course, you want to present polished grammar and proper sentence structure in your nursing personal statement, but these issues are less important in your first draft.

When you are creating your first draft, pay attention to the content. Work to get the paragraphs into reasonable order, and aim to develop your ideas as much as you can. You will worry about the grammar, sentence structure, and proofreading issues when you go to revise.

Step 6: Put the Essay Aside

As mentioned earlier, planning your time is vital when it comes to the writing process. Therefore, as unorthodox as it may sound, you need to disconnect yourself from the work for quite some time before reviewing. Putting your work away for at least a day is a smart move. By doing so, you have the proper amount of time to really assess the changes that you want to make.

It’s tempting to immediately go into your paper to revise after writing the first draft, and this urge is particularly strong when the deadline is soon. You might miss important information though. Waiting allows you to recall more important details that you want to be included in the essay. Taking a break from your personal statement allows you that necessary mental space to potentially come up with fresh ideas.

Removing yourself from the project for some time also helps with editing. When you are first writing, you may include some unnecessary details about events related to nursing or your reasons for becoming a nurse. These details may be important to you, but they might not be important for your essay. Putting your work aside for some time will help you gain that perspective.

Besides, picking up on proofreading and editing errors is difficult when you have just written the paper. Your mind is likely to read the work as though it is correct because you just wrote it and you know what the text is supposed to say.

When you come back to read the text later, you are likely to catch these mistakes. For some, printing out the essay and editing it by hand seems to work great. Make sure to read the text out loud to catch errors. In other words, you may hear issues more readily than you see them.

Step 7: Visit a Writing Center

If available to you, a writing center is extremely valuable. Ben Rafoth in  Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing  explains  why writing centers are so valuable.  The main idea here is that you get the chance to review the work with a tutor. Having the insight of a professional or a peer on your work is crucial.

Writing centers function in a variety of ways. Some tutors may require students to read their papers aloud while others might make markings on the student’s paper. If you are already a student at a college, you likely have access to a writing center right on campus.

If you do not, ask a few people to read over and review your essay ( me shamelessly plugging in our services page here 🤦). Sharing your work with others might feel frightening, but keep in mind that an outside reader can offer you important insights.

Step 8: Revise and Revise Some More

One round of revisions is typically not enough for an important piece of writing. You want to make sure that your personal statement for your target nursing school is as polished as it gets. Now you will have to decide how many times is enough revision.

But as a rule of thumb, aim for at least 3 rounds of revisions. As you go through each essay each round, you will likely notice grammar and sentence-level issues that need fixing. At some point, however, you will feel confident with your paper. Then, you are ready to submit the document.

Related: 8 Best TEAS Prep Courses Today, According to Nursing Students

Topics and Approaches to Consider

In addition to allowing your writing to develop over time, you also need to make sure you are selecting appropriate content. But remember, you must always strive to address the specific prompt from your target nursing program. Consider the following clever tips to make your writing shine:

Tip 1: Start with an Anecdote

You want to grab the attention of your readers at the beginning of your nursing school personal statement. Beginning with an authentic anecdote is one way to do so. For example, you might bring in a specific experience that encouraged you to want to become a nurse or a situation that had a profound influence on your life.

Remember the importance of authenticity when taking this approach. You might feel like you need to manipulate the experience to make it sound more dramatic than it was. However, bear in mind that a commitment to honesty is imperative to your nursing goals.

As a word of caution, the admissions team has quite possibly read numerous nursing personal statements in the past, which means they can sniff out your inauthenticity from a mile away! You do not want that, now do you?

Tip 2: Talk about Yourself

Many students fall into the trap of talking about other people more than they discuss themselves. You might have a profound story about how a medical situation with one of your grandparents inspired you to become a nurse, or you might want to share details about an internship that you had with a particular nurse.

What you do not want to do is end up writing more about your grandparent or the nurse with whom you worked than you do about yourself.

While these individuals may very well have played a crucial role in your decision to pursue a nursing career, they are not the ones applying to a nursing school. You are essentially trying to sell yourself to the admissions committee. Talk about how these experiences shaped you and what you learned from the situations. Keep the focus on yourself.

Tip 3: Discuss the Target School

Chances are that you are applying to multiple nursing programs. If you are thinking of applying to only one program, casting your net wider is definitely wiser. After all, you don’t know for certain that you will gain admittance into your program of choice. When you apply to different schools, you should tailor the personal statement to each institution.

It’s quite possible that each school will ask you a similar question or that the prompts will resemble each other. While you might be compelled to do a one-size-fits-all personal statement for each of the nursing schools, that would be a sure recipe to get a rejection letter. The writing will sound as though it has been repurposed.

The admissions committee wants to see why you are a good fit for that specific school, not simply nursing schools in general. Now, of course, you can potentially use the same base. For example, you might want to share the same volunteer experiences or internship experiences with each school. However, you should have a section that is thoughtfully tailored to the individual school.

Incorporate specific details about the school that show why you want to go there. You could highlight particular classes that interest you or discuss a few of your role models who are that school’s alumni- basically, anything that, without a doubt, demonstrates that your essay is intended for the specific school.

Take a look at the following excerpt from an actual personal statement. While it is not for a nursing application, it should elaborate on the point.

“RIT is an excellent choice for me because it has successfully carved out a reputation for itself as a leading technology university. The availability of top-notch facilities, like the Simone Center for Student Innovation and RIT Venture creations Incubator, continue to set the university apart from its peers. As a result, the university sports a vibrant entrepreneurial culture that is leveraged on technology to inspire learners to identify problems that require innovative solutions. Importantly, I believe the MS TIME program will enable me to experience entrepreneurship in a reimagined way, like never before.”

Tip 4: Know What to Avoid

You already know that you should avoid manipulating personal stories and writing generic essays. You should also avoid begging for admission into the school. Further, avoid integrating clichés into your writing. Instead, look for personal ways to convey your ideas instead of simply regurgitating.

Avoid plagiarism as it can affect you professionally. Running your work through a  plagiarism checker  will weed out accidental plagiarism. When you read samples, you absolutely must not copy them.

Nursing School Personal Statement Examples

How about we examine (and comment on) some excerpts from samples of personal statements- to give you a general idea and hopefully get you started. Ready? Let’s go!

“Nursing is a very versatile field and the subjects I am currently studying have many links with adult nursing. Studying psychology has made me aware that the mental health of a patient is just as important as their physical well-being. I have learnt that the brain and the body are never in harmony, which can explain why we are such a diverse species in the way we act, or the beliefs we hold…”

– Read the rest  here

Commentary : The student does a splendid job of connecting his educational experience to the nursing field. He might want to watch for absolutes, such as the word “never.” But as long as you can back up your assertion, you are free to say what’s on your mind. The student should, however, break down this wall of text into two separate paragraphs, for readability purposes.

“After a series of illnesses and injuries during my early childhood, I was introduced to the role and care of Nurses. It was from here I became fascinated and realised this could be a satisfying future outlet for my empathetic self. I feel that nurses are truly inspirational professionals. They provide an inestimable service to society whilst working in a highly demanding and very challenging career, assisting individuals and their families through difficult times when they are at their most vulnerable. I feel I am ready to embark on this career and start to fulfill this ambition of mine to become a children’s nurse.

I believe nursing is a career in which I will excel because of my compassion for those who are at their most vulnerable. My ability to empathise with individuals would provide a positive nurse and patient relationship, putting the child and family at ease, allowing the family to approach me for support and guidance and therefore meet specific needs of the child and their family. Self-confidence is something I consider to be highly important within a nursing career. Having self-belief when working under pressure and in stressful situations is crucial when ensuring high quality care is delivered. Nursing can be a stressful career where traumatic situations are common…”

Commentary : This is an excellent example of how to start a personal statement for nursing school, and transition effortlessly from the introductory paragraph to the next. The student here clearly connects her experiences as a child to her desire to be a children’s nurse. And just from reading this sample, you feel she is well qualified for admission!

“I want to be a nurse to do something worthwhile with my career, I don’t want to waste my days working behind a computer, I want to be a nurse to utilise all of the best parts of my character…”

– Read the rest  here

Commentary : What’s useful here is that the student speaks with confidence. He seems to have a pretty clear direction from the start. However, the writing does contain comma splices, which is a grammar mistake. While the word “something” is vague, it wouldn’t be if the student elaborated on the same paragraph or the next one.

Also, the student here could better consider the audience. In this case, the audience might consist of admission committee members who work on a computer all day, and they might feel a little offended from reading the first line. Even if their personal feelings aren’t supposed to come into play when assessing the essay, the readers are likely not going into the rest of the essay brimming with enthusiasm.

In addition, the student should consider improving the opening line by focusing more on his specific goals and by eliminating information that could potentially alienate the audience.

“My motivation towards nursing did not emanate from anywhere. I relate it to the experiences that I have had since I was young. As I reflect on my life back, I remember that I grew in a family where my father and mother were nurses in the nearby hospital. I witnessed the care and love they extended to the infirm, some of who came to the hospital in dire conditions. As we lived in the staff quarters, I got a chance to sneak to my father’s office and saw how he handled the patients of different ages. I was encouraged to see him listen and take the history of every patient, something that enabled him to make an accurate treatment decision. since then, I wanted to extend the good works that I witnessed with my immediate parents…”

Commentary : This student does not have very advanced writing skills, which is why you can see her commit some grammar mistakes. For example, she ought to write “sneak into” instead of “sneak to”. However, she does a great job demonstrating how her past has led her to want to pursue a career in nursing. Do not be afraid to tell such a story on your nursing school personal statement. Just don’t dwell too much on it. And ensure the story is legit.

Writing a personal statement might seem like an overwhelming endeavor. After all, you do have to take several steps before you are ready to submit a polished essay and hopefully get accepted into your program of choice.

Keep in mind that your efforts will be worth it. Obviously, other aspects of your application come into play- Factors such as your GPA, recommendation letter, etc.

However, it is on your nursing school personal statement that you have the chance to really  craft your story how you deem fit  and showcase yourself in the best possible light. By putting the necessary time and effort into it, you could find yourself studying to become a nurse when the next semester begins.

Related Nursing Readings: 

13 Best Books for Nursing Students to Read- Reviewed

Is a Nursing Degree Worth it? Explore the Benefits

13 Best Online Nursing Programs for Non-Nurses

The 5 Absolute Best NCLEX Prep Books

Best NCLEX Prep Courses, According to Nurses

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• Volume 7, Issue 3
• Attributes, skills and actions of clinical leadership in nursing as reported by hospital nurses: a cross-sectional study
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• http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8401-4976 Majd T Mrayyan 1 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6393-3022 Abdullah Algunmeeyn 2 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2639-9991 Hamzeh Y Abunab 3 ,
• Ola A Kutah 2 ,
• Imad Alfayoumi 3 ,
• Abdallah Abu Khait 1
• 1 Department of Community and Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing , The Hashemite University , Zarqa , Jordan
• 2 Advanced Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing , Isra University , Amman , Jordan
• 3 Basic Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing , Isra University , Amman , Jordan
• Correspondence to Dr Majd T Mrayyan, Department of Community and Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13133, Jordan; mmrayyan{at}hu.edu.jo

Background Research shows a significant growth in clinical leadership from a nursing perspective; however, clinical leadership is still misunderstood in all clinical environments. Until now, clinical leaders were rarely seen in hospitals’ top management and leadership roles.

Purpose This study surveyed the attributes and skills of clinical nursing leadership and the actions that effective clinical nursing leaders can do.

Methods In 2020, a cross-sectional design was used in the current study using an online survey, with a non-random purposive sample of 296 registered nurses from teaching, public and private hospitals and areas of work in Jordan, yielding a 66% response rate. Data were analysed using descriptive analysis of frequency and central tendency measures, and comparisons were performed using independent t-tests.

Results The sample consists mostly of junior nurses. The ‘most common’ attributes associated with clinical nursing leadership were effective communication, clinical competence, approachability, role model and support. The ‘least common’ attribute associated with clinical nursing leadership was ‘controlling’. The top-rated skills of clinical leaders were having a strong moral character, knowing right and wrong and acting appropriately. Leading change and service improvement were clinical leaders’ top-rated actions. An independent t-test on key variables revealed substantial differences between male and female nurses regarding the actions and skills of effective clinical nursing leadership.

Conclusions The current study looked at clinical leadership in Jordan’s healthcare system, focusing on the role of gender in clinical nursing leadership. The findings advocate for clinical leadership by nurses as an essential element of value-based practice, and they influence innovation and change. As clinical leaders in various hospitals and healthcare settings, more empirical work is needed to build on clinical nursing in general and the attributes, skills and actions of clinical nursing leadership of nursing leaders and nurses.

• clinical leadership
• health system
• leadership assessment

Data availability statement

Data are available on request due to privacy/ethical restrictions. https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/data-sharing/share-your-data/data-availability-statements/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .

https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2022-000672

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WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC

Clinical leadership was limited to service managers; however, currently, all clinicians are invited to participate in leadership practices. Clinical leaders are needed in various healthcare settings to produce positive outcomes.

WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS

This study outlined clinical leadership attributes, skills and actions to understand clinical nursing leadership better. The current study highlighted the role of gender in clinical nursing leadership, and it asserts that effective clinical nursing leadership is warranted to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of care. The results call for nurses’ clinical leadership as essential in today’s turbulent work environment.

HOW THIS STUDY MIGHT AFFECT RESEARCH, PRACTICE OR POLICY

Nurses and clinical leaders need additional attributes, skills and actions. Clinical nursing leaders should use innovative interventions and have skills or actions to manage current work environments. Further work is needed to build on clinical nursing in general and the attributes, skills and actions of clinical nursing leadership. Clinical leadership programmes must be integrated into the nursing curricula.

Introduction

Clinical leadership is a matter of global importance. Currently, all clinicians are invited to participate in leadership practices. 1 This invitation is based on the fact that people deliver healthcare within complex systems. Effective clinicians must understand systems of care to function effectively. 1 2 Engaging in clinical leadership is an obligation, not a choice, for all clinicians at all levels. This obligation is more critical in nursing with many e merging global health issues , 2 such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The systematic literature review of Cummings et al 3 shows the differences in leadership literature. In early 2000, clinical leadership emerged in scientific literature. 4 It is about having the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to effectively balance the needs of patients and team members within resource constraints. 4 Clinical leadership is vital in nursing as nurses face complex challenges in clinical settings, especially in acute care settings. 4 Although developed from the management domain, leadership and management are two concepts used interchangeably, 5–9 leading to further misunderstanding of the relationship between clinical leadership and management. While different types of leadership have been evident in nursing and health industry literature, clinical leadership is still misunderstood in clinical environments. 8 Clinical leadership is not fully understood among health professionals trained to care for patients, as clinical leadership is a management concept, leaving the concept open to different interpretations. 10 For example, Gauld 10 reported that clinical leaders might be professionals (such as doctors and nurses) who are no longer clinically active, mandating that clinical leaders should also be involved in delivering care. 10

There is no clear definition of ‘clinical leadership’. However, effective clinical leadership involves individuals with the appropriate clinical leadership skills and attributes at different levels of an organisation, focusing on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary work. 10 The main skills associated with clinical leadership were having values and beliefs consistent with their actions and interventions, being supportive of colleagues, communicating effectively, serving as a role model and engaging in reflective practice. 4–9 The main attributes associated with clinical leadership were using effective communication, clinical competence, being a role model, supportive and approachability. 4–9 Stanley and colleagues reported that clinical leaders are found across health organisations and are presented in all clinical environments. Clinical leaders are often found at the highest level for clinical interaction but not commonly found at the highest management level in wards or units. 4–9

With the increasing urgency to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of care, effective nursing leadership is warranted. 4 11–17 Clinical leaders can be found in various healthcare settings, 4 most often at the highest clinical level, but they are uncommon at the top executive level. 6–9 18–24 In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) 25 empowers clinicians and front-line staff to build their decision-making capabilities, which is required for clinical leadership. This empowerment encourages a broader practice of clinical leadership without being limited to top executives alone. 25 26

Purpose and significance

This study assesses clinical nursing leadership in Jordan. More specifically, it answers the following research questions: (1) What attributes are associated with clinical nursing leadership in Jordanian hospitals? (2) What skills are important for effective clinical nursing leadership? (3) What actions are important for effective clinical nursing leadership? (4) What are the differences in skills critical to effective clinical nursing leadership based on the sample’s characteristics? (5) What are the differences in effective clinical nursing leaders’ actions based on the sample’s characteristics?

Nursing leadership studies are abundant; however, clinical leadership research is not well established. 8 27 Until fairly recently, clinical leadership in nursing has tended to focus on nursing leaders in senior leadership positions, ignoring nurse managers in clinical positions. 8 There has been significant growth in research exploring clinical leadership from a nursing perspective. 4 8 9 14–17 24 26–32 A new leadership theory, ‘congruent leadership’, has emerged, claiming that clinical leaders acted on their values and beliefs about care and thus were followed. 6–9 20 This study is the first in Jordan’s nursing and health-related research about clinical leadership. Clarifying this concept from nurses’ perspectives will support greater healthcare delivery efficiencies.

Search methods

The initial search was done using ‘clinical nursing leadership’ at the Clarivate database and Google Scholar database from 2017 to 2021, yielded 35 studies, of which, after abstracting, 14 studies were selected. However, Stanley’s work (12 studies), including those before 2017, was included because we followed the researcher’s passion and methodology of studying clinical leadership; also, some classical models of clinical leadership because they were essential for the conceptualisation of the study as well as the discussion, such as the NHS Leadership Academy (three studies; ref 25 33 34 ).

Another search was run using the words ‘attributes’, ‘skills’ or ‘actions’ using the same time frame; most of the yielded studies were not relevant, this search year was expanded to 2013–2021 because the years 2013–2015 were the glorious time of studying these concepts. Using ‘clinical leadership’ rather than ‘leadership studies’, 15 studies were yielded; however, Stanley’s above work was excluded to avoid repetition, resulting in using three studies (ref 29 30 35 ). A relevant reference of 2022 similar to our study (ref 36 ) was added at the stages of revisions. The remaining 16 of 49 references were related to the methodology and explanation of some results, such as those related to gender differences in leadership. The following limits were set: the language was English; and the year of publication was basically the last 5 years to ensure that the search was current.

Clinical leadership

Clinical leadership ensures quality patient care by providing safe and efficient care and creating a healthy clinical work environment. 4 10–17 27 31 32 It also decreases the high costs of clinical litigation settlements and improves the safety of service delivery to consumers. 4 11–17 32 For these reasons, healthcare organisations should initiate interventions to develop clinical leadership among front-line clinicians, including nurses. 8 9

Literature was scarce on clinical leadership in nursing. 4 8–10 14–17 27 28 31 Stanley and Stanley 8 defined clinical leadership as developing a culture and leading a set of tasks to improve the quality and safety of service delivery to consumers.

Clinical leadership is about focusing on direct patient care, delivering high-quality direct patient care, motivating members of the team to provide effective, safe and satisfying care, promoting staff retention, providing organisational support and improving patient outcomes. 31 Clinical leadership roles include providing the vision, setting the direction, promoting professionalism, teamwork, interprofessional collaborations, good practice and continued medical education, contributing to patient care and performing tasks effectively. 31 Moreover, the researchers added that clinical leadership is having the approachability and the ability to communicate effectively, the ability to gain support and influence others, role modelling, visibility and availability to support, the ability to promote change, advise and guide. 31 Clinical leadership competencies include demonstrating clinical expertise, remaining clinically focused and engaged and comprehending clinical leadership roles and decision-making. In addition, clinical leadership was not associated with a position within the management and organisational structure, unlike health service management. 31 33

Clinical leadership is hindered by many barriers that include the lack of time and the high clinical/client demand on their time. 8 9 Clinical leadership is limited because of the deficit in intrapersonal and interpersonal capabilities among team members and interdisciplinary and organisational factors, such as a lack of influence in interdisciplinary care planning and policy. 37 Other barriers include limited organisational leadership opportunities, the perceived need for leadership development before serving in leadership roles and a lack of funding for advancement. 38

This paper aligns with the theory of congruent leadership proposed by Stanley. 19 This theory is best suited for understanding clinical leadership because it defines leadership as a congruence between the activities and actions of the leader and the leader’s values, beliefs and principles, and those of the organisation and team.

Attributes of clinical leadership

The clinical leadership attributes needed for nurses 8 28 to perform their roles effectively are: (1) personal attributes: nurses are confident in their abilities to provide best practice, communicate effectively and have emotional intelligence; (2) team attributes: encouraging trust and commitment to others, team focus and valuing others’ skills and expertise; and (3) capabilities: encouraging contribution from others, building and maintaining relationships, creating clear direction and being a role model. 8 28 Clinical leadership attributes are linked to communicating effectively, role modelling, promoting change, providing advice and guidance, gaining support and influencing others. 28–30 Other attributes to include are clinical leaders’ engagement in reflective practice, 29 provision of the vision; setting direction, having the resources to perform tasks effectively and promoting professionalism, teamwork, interprofessional collaborations, effective practice and continued education. 27 28 31

Skills of clinical leadership

Clinical leadership skills include (1) a ‘clinical focus’: being expert knowledge, providing evidence-based rationale and systematic thinking, understanding clinical leadership, understanding clinical decision-making, being clinically focused, remaining clinically engaged and demonstrating clinical expertise; (2) a ‘follower/team focus’: being supportive of colleagues, effectively communicating communication skills, serving as a role model and empowering the team; and (3) a ‘personal qualities focus’: engaging in reflective practice, initiating change and challenging the status quo. 17 30 32 Clinical leaders have advocacy skills, facilitate and maintain healthier workplaces by driving changes in cultural issues among all health professionals. 17 29 Moreover, the overlap between the attributes and skills of clinical leaders includes being credible to colleagues because of clinical competence and the skills and capacity to support multidisciplinary teams effectively. 17 29 32

Actions of clinical leadership

A clinical leader is anyone in a clinical position exercising leadership. 26 The clinical leader’s role is to continuously instil in clinicians the capability to improve healthcare on small and large scales. 26 Furthermore, Stanley et al 9 demonstrated that clinical leaders are not always managers or higher-ups in organisations. Clinical leaders act following their values and beliefs, are approachable and provide superior service to their clients. 9 Clinical leaders define and delegate safety and quality responsibilities and roles. 14 32 39 They also ensure safety and quality of care, manage the operation of the clinical governance system, implement strategic plans and implement the organisation’s safety culture. 14 32 39 The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care 39 also reported that clinical leaders might support other clinicians by reviewing safety and quality performance data, supervising the clinical workforce, conducting performance appraisals and ensuring that the team understands the clinical governance system.

In summary, clinical leadership attributes, skills and actions were outlined to understand clinical nursing leadership. The literature shows limited nursing research on clinical leadership, calling for clinical leadership that paves the road for nurses in the current turbulent work environment.

Study design

A descriptive quantitative analysis was developed to collect data about the attributes and skills of clinical nursing leadership and the actions that effective nursing clinical leaders can take. A cross-sectional design was employed to measure clinical leadership using an online survey in 2020. This design was appropriate for such a study as it allows the researchers to measure the outcome and the exposures of the study participants at the same time. 40

Sample and settings

The general population was registered nurses in medical centres in Jordan. The target population was registered nurses in teaching, public and private hospitals. Most nurses in Jordan are females working at different shifts on a full-time basis in different types of healthcare services. The baccalaureate degree is the minimum entry into the clinical practice of registered nurses. As previous nurses, we would like to attest that nurses in Jordanian hospitals commonly use team nursing care delivery models with different decision-making styles. The size of the sample was calculated by using Thorndike’s rule as follows: N≥10(k)+50 (where N was the sample size, k is the number of independent variables) (attributes, skills, actions), the minimum sample size should be 80 participants. 40 From experience, the researcher considers the sample’s demographics and subscales as independent variables (k=17); the overall sample should not be less than 220.

Research participants were recruited through a ‘direct recruitment strategy’ from the hospitals where the nursing students were trained. A survey was used to collect data using non-random purposive sampling; of possible 450 Jordanian nurses, 296 were recruited from different types of hospitals: teaching (51 of possible 120 nurses), public (180 of possible 210 nurses) and private (65 of possible 120 nurses), with a response rate of 66%, which is adequate for an online survey. The inclusion criteria were that nurses should work in hospital settings, and any nurses who work in non-hospital settings were excluded. No incentives were applied.

Using a direct measurement method, Stanley’s Clinical Leadership Scale ( online supplemental file 1 ) was used to collect the data using the English version of the scale because English is the official education language of nursing in Jordan. 8 9 The original questionnaire consists of 24 questions: 12 quantitative and qualitative questions relevant to clinical leadership, and 12 related to the sample’s demographics. Several studies about clinical leadership among nurses and paramedics in the UK and Australia used modified versions of a survey tool 5 8 9 18–24 ; construct validity was ensured using exploratory factor analysis or triangulation of validation. Cronbach’s alpha measures the homogeneity in the survey, and it was reported to be 0.87 8 9 and 0.88 in the current study.

Supplemental material

Several questions were measured on a 5-point Likert scale in the original scale, and others were qualitative. The survey for the current study consists of 12 quantitative and qualitative questions related to clinical leadership and 14 questions related to the sample’s demographics. However, the qualitative data obtained were scattered and incomplete; thus, only the quantitative questions were analysed and reported, and another qualitative study about clinical leadership was planned. For the current study, three quantitative questions only focused on clinical leadership, leadership skills and the actions of clinical leaders, and 14 questions focused on the sample’s characteristics relevant to the Jordanian healthcare system developed by the first author. The sample characteristics were gender, marital status, shift worked, time commitment, level of education, age, years of experience in nursing, years of experience in leadership and the number of employees directly supervised. Other characteristics include the type of unit/ward, model of nursing care, ward/unit’s decision-making style, formal leadership-related education (yes/no) and formal management-related education (yes/no). Before data collection, permission to use the tool was granted.

Ethical considerations

Nurses were invited to answer the survey while assuring the voluntary nature of their participation. The participants were told that their participation in the survey was their consent form. Participants’ anonymity and confidentiality of information were assured; all questionnaires were numerically coded, and the overall results were shared with nursing and hospital administrators. 40

Patient and public involvement

There was no patient or public involvement in this research’s design, conduct, reporting or dissemination.

Data collection procedures

After a pilot study on 12 December 2020, which checked for the suitability of the questionnaire for the Jordanian healthcare settings, data were collected over a month on 23 December 2020. Data were collected through Google Forms; the survey was posted on various WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages. Using purposive snowball sampling, nurses were asked to invite their contacts and to submit the survey once. To assure one submission, the Google Forms was designed to allow for one submission only.

No problem was encountered during data collection. The two attrition prevention techniques used were effective communication and asserting to the participants that the study was relevant to them.

The researchers controlled for all possible extraneous and confounding variables by including them in the study. A possible non-accounted extraneous variable is the organisational structure; a centralised organisational structure may hinder the use of clinical nursing leadership.

Data analyses

After data cleaning and checking wild codes and outliers, all coded variables were entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (V.25), 35 which was used to generate statistics according to the level of measurement. A descriptive analysis focused on frequency and central tendency measures. 40 Part 1 of the scale comprises 54 qualities or characteristics to answer the first research question. Responses related to skills were measured on a 1–5 Likert scale; thus, means and SDs were reported to answer the second research question. Eight actions were rated on a 1–5 Likert scale; thus, means and SDs were reported to answer the third research question. Independent t-tests using all sample characteristics were performed to answer the fourth and fifth research questions.

The preanalysis phase of data analysis was performed; data were eligible and complete as few missing data were found; thus, they were left without intervention. The assumption of normality was met; both samples are approximately normally distributed, and there were no extreme differences in the sample’s SDs.

Characteristics of the sample

There were 296 nurses in the current study from different types of hospitals: teaching (51 nurses), public (180 nurses) and private (65 nurses), with a response rate of 66%. Most nurses were females (209, 70.6%), single (87, 29.4%), working a day shift (143, 48.3%) or rotating shifts (92, 31.1%), on a full-time basis (218, 73.6%), with a baccalaureate degree (236, 79.7%), aged less than 25 years (229, 77.4%) and 25–34 years (45, 15.2%), respectively. Also, 65.1% (166) of nurses reported having less than 1 year of experience in nursing; thus, they have few nurses under them to supervise (145, 49% supervise one to two nurses), and 23.3% (69) of nurses reported having 1–9 years of experience in leadership. Nurses reported that their unit or ward has a primary (81, 27.4%) or team nursing care delivery model (162, 54.7%), with a mixed (94, 31.8%) or participatory decision-making style (113, 38.2%), and had formal leadership-related education (191, 64.5%), and had no formal management-related education (210, 70.9%) ( table 1 ).

• View inline

Sample’s characteristics (N=296*)

Attributes of clinical nursing leadership

Nurses were asked to think about the attributes and features of clinical leadership. Based on Stanley’s Clinical Leadership Scale, 8 9 nurses were given a list of 54 qualities and characteristics and asked to select the most strongly associated with clinical leadership, followed by those least strongly associated with clinical leadership. Table 2 shows the respondents’ ‘top ten’ selected qualities in ranked order.

'Most’ and ‘Least’ important attributes associated with clinical nursing leadership (N=296)

Skills of effective clinical nursing leaders

On a Likert scale of 1–5, respondents were asked to rank the skills of effective clinical leaders from ‘not relevant’ or ‘not important’ to 5=‘very relevant’ or ‘very important’. The top skills were having a strong moral character, knowing right and wrong and acting appropriately which received a high rating, with a mean of 4.17 out of 5 (0.92). Being in a management position to be effective was ranked as the least skill of an effective leader, with a mean value of 3.78 out of 5 (1.00). As indicated by respondents, other skills of effective clinical leaders are shown in table 3 .

Skills of effective clinical nursing leaders (N=296)

Actions of effective clinical nursing leaders

On a Likert scale of 1–5, respondents were asked to rank the actions of effective clinical leaders. Leading change and service management achieved a high rating of 4.07 out of 5 points (0.90). Influencing organisational policy was rated last, with a mean score of 3.95 out of 5 (1.01), which may reflect the very junior nature of the majority of the sample. As described by respondents, some of the other actions of effective leaders are shown in table 4 .

Actions effective clinical nursing leaders can do (N=296)

Significant differences in skills of effective clinical nursing leaders based on gender

Independent t-tests using all sample’s characteristics were performed to answer the fourth research question. Gender was the only characteristic variable that differentiated clinical leadership skills. An independent t-test demonstrates that males and females have distinct perspectives on 3 out of 10 items measuring clinical leadership skills. Female participants outperform male participants in terms of ‘working within the team (p value=0.021)’, ‘being visible in the clinical environment (p value=0.004)’ and ‘recognizing optimal performance and expressing appreciation promptly (p value=0.042) ( table 5 )’.

Significant differences in skills and actions of effective clinical nursing leaders based on gender (n=296)

Significant differences in actions of effective clinical nursing leaders based on gender

Independent t-tests using all sample’s characteristics were performed to answer the fifth research question. Gender was the only characteristic variable that differentiated clinical leadership actions, and it was discovered that five of the eight propositions varied in their actions: the way clinical care is administered (p=0.010); participating in staff development education (p=0.006); providing valuable staff support (p=0.033); leading change and service improvement (p=0.014); and encouraging and leading service management (p=0.019). The independent t-test results revealed that female participants scored higher in those acts, corresponding to effective leaders’ competencies. The mean values of participants’ responses to the actions of effective clinical leaders are shown in table 5 .

The characteristics of the current sample are similar to those of the structure of the task force in Jordan. The remaining question is how men in Jordan be supported in nursing to develop clinical leadership skills on par with females. Al-Motlaq et al 41 proposed using a part-time nurses policy to address nurses’ gender imbalances. Although this is necessary for both genders, we propose to develop a clinical leadership training package to promote working male nurses’ clinical leadership. In Jordan, we apply the modern trend of using leadership in nursing rather than management. About 65% of the nurses reported having formal leadership-related education, while around 71% reported no formal management-related education.

The findings clearly showed what nurses seek in a clinical leader. They appear to refer to a good communicator who values relationships and encouragement, is flexible, approachable and compassionate, can set goals and plans, resource allocation, is clinically competent and visible and has integrity. They necessitate clinical nursing leaders who can be role models for others in practice and deal with change. They should be supportive decision-makers, mentors and motivators. They should be emphatic; otherwise, they should not be in a position of control. These findings align with other research on clinical leadership. 7–9 21 Clinical leaders should be visible and participate in team activities. They should be highly skilled clinicians who instil trust and set an example, and their values should guide them in providing excellent patient care. 8 9

Participants chose other terms or functions associated with leadership roles less frequently or perceived as unrelated to clinical leadership functions. Management, creativity and vision were among the terms and functions mentioned. The absence of the word ‘visionary’ from the list of the most important characteristics suggests that traditional leadership theories, as transformational leadership and situational leadership, do not provide a solid foundation for understanding clinical leadership approaches in the clinical setting. This result can also be influenced by the junior level of the majority of the sample.

Skills of clinical nursing leadership

Numerous studies have documented the characteristics and skills of clinical leaders. 27 29 31 Clinical leaders’ skills include advocacy, facilitation and healthier workplaces. 27 29 31 Our participants were rated as having high morals (similar to other studies) 27 29 31 and worked within teams. 29 In turn, they were flexible and expressed appreciation promptly. 7–9 21 They were clinically competent; thus, they improvised and responded to various situations with appropriate skills and interventions. They recognised optimal performance, initiated interventions, led actions and procedures and had the skills and resources necessary to perform their tasks.

The lowest mean was ‘ being in a management position to be effective ’. This lowest meaning ‘ somehow ’ makes sense; all nurses can be effective leaders rather than managers, assuming effective clinical leadership roles without having management positions. 28 42

Actions of clinical nursing leadership

Influential nursing leaders are clinically competent and can initiate interventions and lead actions; these skills translate to actions. Clinical leaders are qualified to lead and manage the service improvement change (similar to Major). 42 This role will not suddenly happen; it requires clinical nursing leaders who encourage and participate in staff development education (consistent with Major). 42 This is an essential milestone and an example of providing valuable staff support. As these were the lowest reported actions, clinical nursing leaders should initiate and lead improvement initiatives in their clinical settings, 42 resulting in service improvement. They also have to influence evidence-based policies to improve work–life integration 43 and enhance patients, nurses and organisational outcomes. These outcomes include quality of care, nurses’ empowerment, job satisfaction, quality of life and work engagement. 4 11–17 32

Female nurses had more clinical leadership skills. Because the findings of this study have never been reported in the previous clinical leadership research literature, they are considered novel. This finding indicates that one possible explanation is that the overwhelming majority of respondents were females, with the proportion of females in favour (70.6%) exceeding that of males (29.4%). Furthermore, the current findings could be explained because the study was conducted in Jordan, a traditionally female-dominated gender nursing career.

This study discovered that there are gender differences in the characteristics of nurses and their clinical leadership skills, with female clinical nursing leaders scoring higher on the t-test than male clinical nursing leaders in the following areas: this is contrary to Masanotti et al , 43 who reported that male nurses have a greater sense of coherence and, in turn, more teamwork than female nurses, who commonly have job dissatisfaction and less teamwork. These could apply to female clinical nursing leaders. These female nurses had more ‘visibility in the clinical environment’, as expected in female-dominated gender nursing careers. As they were commonly dissatisfied as nurses, 43 clinical nursing leaders would be competent in caring for their nurses’ psychological status. These leaders know that even ‘thank you’ is the simplest way to show appreciation and recognition; however, this should be given promptly.

In Arab and developing countries, the perception that females have more skills with effective clinical leadership characteristics than males is consistent with Alghamdi et al 44 and Yaseen. 45 They found that females outperform males on leadership scales, which may also apply to clinical leadership. This study shows consistency between female and male clinical nursing leaders’ general perceptions of clinical leadership skills in female-dominated gender nursing careers but not in male-dominated, gender-segregated countries, including Jordan.

Female nurses had more clinical leadership actions, which differed in five out of eight actions. Female clinical nursing leaders were better at impacting clinical care delivery, participating in staff development education, providing valuable staff support, leading change and improving service.

It is aware that the nursing profession has a difficult context in some Arab and developing countries. For example, a study conducted in Saudi Arabia could explain the current findings that male nurses face various challenges, including a lack of respect and discrimination, resulting in fewer opportunities for professional growth and development. 46 The researchers reported that female clinical nursing leaders are preferred over male nurses because nursing is a nurturing and caring profession; it has been dubbed a ‘female profession’. 46 Additionally, this study corroborates a study that found many males avoid the nursing profession entirely due to its negative connotations 47 ; the profession is geared towards females. These and other stereotypes have influenced male nurses to pursue masculine nursing roles.

The study’s findings are unique because they have never been published in the previous clinical leadership research literature. However, these results can be explained indirectly based on non-clinical leadership literature. Consistent with Khammar et al , 48 as it is a female-dominated profession, it is apparent that female clinical nursing leaders are better at delivering clinical care. This result could also be related to female clinical nursing leaders having a better attitude towards clinical conditions and managing different conditions. 48 Female clinical nursing leaders, in turn, are better at influencing patient care and improving patient safety 36 and overall care and services. This improvement will not happen suddenly; it should be accompanied by paying more attention to providing continuous support, especially during induced change.

The current study reported that female clinical nursing leaders supported staff development and education because it is a female-oriented sample. Yet, Khammar et al 48 reported that men had more opportunities to educate themselves in nursing; this is true in a male-dominated country like Jordan. They also noted that males could communicate better during nursing duties. Regardless of gender, all of us should pay attention to our staff’s working environment and related issues, including promoting open communication, providing support, encouraging continuing education, managing change and improving the overall outcomes.

Limitations

Even though the study’s findings are intriguing, further investigation is needed to comprehend them. Because of the cross-sectional design used in the current study, we cannot establish causality. For this reason, the results should be interpreted with caution. Also, the purposive sample limits the generalisability; thus, this research should be carried out again with a broader selection of nursing candidates and clinical settings. Moreover, the sample consists mostly of nurses with minimal experience compared with nurses in other international countries such as Canada, the UK and the USA. 5 The current study also included nurses in their 40s and above, with male nurses less represented, and this causes misunderstanding of the true clinical leadership in nursing.

Implications

For practice, our sample consists of nurses with minimal experience compared with nurses in other developed counties. Our sample reported ‘influencing organizational policy’ as the last clinical leadership skill, which reflects the very junior nature of the sample. Unlike our study, in their systematic review, Guibert-Lacasa and Vázquez-Calatayud 36 reported that the profiles of the care clinical nurses’ experience usually varied, ranging from recent graduates to senior nurses. If our nurses were more experienced, it might lead to different results. More nurses’ clinical experience would increase nurses’ abilities at the bedside, especially in areas related to reasoning and problem solving. 36 More experienced nurses tend to work collaboratively within the team with greater competency and autonomy. 36 More experienced nurses would provide high-quality care, 36 resulting in patient satisfaction. To generate positive outcomes of clinical nursing leadership, such early-career nurses should be qualified. Guibert-Lacasa and Vázquez-Calatayud 36 suggested using the nursing clinical leadership programme based on the American Organization for Nursing Leadership 34 competency model, pending the presence of organisational support for such an initiative. 36

‘Most’ important clinical nursing leadership attributes should be promoted at all organisational and clinical levels. Clinical nursing leadership’s ‘least’ important attributes should be defeated to achieve better outcomes. Clinical nursing leaders should use innovative interventions and have skills or actions conducive to a healthy work environment. These interventions include being approachable to enable their staff to cope with change, 28 using open and consistent communication, 28–30 being visible and consistently available as role models and mentors and taking risks. 28 Hospital administrators must help their clinical leaders, including nursing leaders, to effectively use their authority, responsibility and accountability; clinical leadership is not only about complying with the job description. A good intervention to start with to promote the culture of clinical leadership is setting an award for the ‘ideal nursing leaders’. This award will bring innovative attributes, skills and actions.

Moreover, as they are in the front line of communication, nurses and clinical nursing leaders should be involved in policy-related matters and committees. 49 An interventional programme that gives nurses more autonomy in making decisions is warranted. In turn, various patient, nurse and organisational outcomes will be improved. 13–17 32

The study’s findings revealed statistically significant differences in the skills and actions of effective clinical leaders, with female nurses scoring higher in many skills and actions. Hence, healthcare organisations must re-evaluate current leadership and staff development policies and prioritise professional development for nurses while also introducing new modes of evaluation and assessment that are explicitly geared at improving clinical leadership among nurses, particularly males.

For education, this study outlined clinical leadership attributes, skills and actions to understand clinical nursing leadership in Jordan better. Nevertheless, nurses and clinical leaders need additional attributes, skills and actions. Consequently, undergraduate nursing students might benefit from clinical leadership programmes integrated into the academic curriculum to teach them the fundamentals of clinical leadership. A master’s degree programme in ‘Clinical Nursing Leadership’ would prepare nurses for this pioneering role and today and tomorrow’s clinical nursing leaders. However, all nurses are clinical leaders regardless of their degrees and experience. Conducting presentations, convening meetings, overseeing organisational transformation and settling disagreements are common ways to hone these abilities.

For research purposes, it is worth exploring the concept of clinical leadership from a practice nurse’s perspective to provide insight into practice nurses’ feelings and perceptions. Thus, a longitudinal quantitative design or a phenomenological qualitative design might be adopted to assess the subjective experience of the nurses involved. It is better in future research to focus on both young and veteran clinical leaders; some of our nurses were aged 45 years and above, and those nurses may not be clinically focused.

Summary and conclusion

The current study put clinical leadership into the context of the healthcare system in Jordan. This study highlighted the role of gender in clinical nursing leadership. Nurses’ clinical leadership is a milestone for influencing innovation and change. The current study identified the ‘most’ and ‘least’ important attributes, skills and actions associated with clinical leadership. However, the male and female nurses found substantial differences in effective clinical nursing leadership skills and actions. This study is unique; little is known about the collective concepts of attributes, skills and actions necessary for clinical nursing leadership.

Nurses need leadership attributes, skills and actions to influence policy development and change in their work environments. Leadership attributes can help develop programmes that give nurses more autonomy in making decisions. As a result, nurses will be more active as clinical leaders.

Ethics statements

Patient consent for publication.

Not applicable.

Ethics approval

This study involves human participants and was approved by The Hashemite University, Jordan (IRB number: 1/1/2020/2021) on 18 October 2020. Participants gave informed consent to participate in the study before taking part.

Acknowledgments

The researchers thank the subjects who participated in the study, and Mrs Othman and Mr Sayaheen who collected the data.

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Supplementary materials

Supplementary data.

This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content.

• Data supplement 1

Contributors MTM developed the study conception, abstract, introduction, literature review and methods; collected the data and wrote the first draft of this research paper and the final proofreading. HAN analysed the data and wrote the results. AA wrote the discussion and updated the literature review. OK wrote the limitations, implications, and summary and conclusion. IAF and AAK did the critical revisions and the final proofreading. All authors contributed to the current work.

Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests None declared.

Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.

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Clinical leadership development and education for nurses: prospects and opportunities

M lindell joseph.

College of Nursing, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

Diane L Huber

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, elevated roles for nurses of care coordinator, clinical nurse leader, and advanced practice registered nurse have come to the forefront. Because change occurs so fast, matching development and education to job requirements is a challenging forecasting endeavor. The purpose of this article is to envision clinical leadership development and education opportunities for three emerging roles. The adoption of a common framework for intentional leadership development is proposed for clinical leadership development across the continuum of care. Solutions of innovation and interdependency are framed as core concepts that serve as an opportunity to better inform clinical leadership development and education. Additionally, strategies are proposed to advance knowledge, skills, and abilities for crucial implementation of improvements and new solutions at the point of care.

Complexity, chaos, high rates of change, serious safety and quality issues, and workforce shortages in health care are some of the reasons why clinical leadership is important. Although the future may be difficult to predict exactly, history has taught us that it is crucial to prepare nurses for key roles in the health care delivery system, both for present jobs and for potential future opportunities. The challenge for clinical leadership is how to structure the knowledge, skills, and abilities required so that nurses are positioned to step into roles that are needed, yet, for which there may not yet be formal jobs. One example is expanding and elevating the registered nurse (RN) role from traditional care delivery to integrating care, where they are working with autonomy, authority, and accountability in managing and coordinating care across disciplines and settings. 1 Smolowitz et al 2 studied 16 primary health care practices that used RNs to the full extent of their scope of practice in team-based care and found that episodic and preventive care, chronic disease management, and practice operations were the three main aspects of RN activities. They noted that there is a compelling need to expand the contributions and optimize the scope of practice of RNs in primary health care for leadership in interprofessional teams. The purpose of this article is to envision clinical leadership opportunities for three nursing roles: specifically, care coordinator, clinical nurse leader (CNL), and advanced practice RN (APRN), and discuss a common framework for leadership development and education.

The changing face of health care

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed and signed into law in 2010. Subsequent implementation has contributed to reconfiguration in health care delivery, accelerated the demand for health care along with a shortage of key health care professionals, and opened up new and expanded roles for nurses under new care delivery models. Aimed at extending health insurance coverage, there are many provisions of the ACA, including those designed to emphasize prevention and wellness, improve quality and system performance, and curb costs. Notable among these aspects are the creation of health homes and integration of care for persons with chronic illnesses, improvements in care coordination, emphasis on prevention and primary care, investment in health information technology, and testing of new delivery and payment systems. Authorized under the ACA for Medicare reimbursement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has implemented an initiative to reward acute care hospitals with quality-of-care incentive payments for the quality of care delivered to Medicare patients. Called Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP), this program bases payment (or nonpayment) to hospitals on how closely they follow best clinical practices and how well they enhance patients’ experience of care. The goal is to link payment to a value-based system that improves quality of care and is not just based on volume of services.

These changes in the context of health care delivery have driven the need to supercharge RNs’ leadership knowledge, skills, and abilities and develop targeted care coordination and integration competencies for a more robust skill set that is matched to changing clinical leadership imperatives. Because of ACA and VBP, there is an urgent need for innovation and better management of reciprocal interdependence. Nurses hold the central ground for quality, safety, and improving the patient experience. For example, having quick care clinics affiliated with a hospital can decrease nonemergent patients seeking health care on weekends and nights in the emergency department and increase patient satisfaction with not having to wait. However, to run smoothly, nurse clinical leadership is needed to coordinate and integrate care with affiliated sites such as laboratories, imaging centers, and pharmacies.

What is clinical leadership in nursing?

Leadership in nursing is highly valued. The Institute of Medicine 3 noted that nurses need to be prepared to lead in all aspects of health care. Leadership is defined as “the process of influencing people to accomplish goals. Key concepts related to leadership are influence, communication, group process, goal attainment, and motivation”. 4 In order to understand clinical leadership, it needs to be defined. Clinical leadership is defined here as the process of influencing point-of-care innovation and improvement in both organizational processes and individual care practices to achieve quality and safety of care outcomes. McCausland 5 noted that new interdisciplinary models of care that cross traditional boundaries of ambulatory, inpatient, and community settings need credible clinical leaders. Thomas and Roussel 6 noted that clinical leadership is about clinicians augmenting care for safety and quality by using innovation and improvement. This places the opportunity for health care leadership at the clinical level within the realm of each direct provider of care, especially nurses who are at the direct care level. They stated “There is a need for a more programmatic, strategic approach to clinical leadership, because the United States’ ailing health care system is in urgent need of reform”. 6 Thus, clinical leadership needs targeted preparation.

Clinical leadership uses the skills of the RN and adds components of general leadership skills, skills in management of care delivery at the point of care, and focused skills in using evidence-based practice for problem solving and outcomes management. There is clearly a need for clinical leadership in nursing because of the many and varied point-of-care implementation problems that arise. For example, patient safety may be compromised if there is poor team communication. When nurses are busy or short-staffed, hand-off communications may be compromised, creating gaps in care (Huber et al, unpublished data, 2015). Discharge transitions may not be smooth if both sending and receiving areas do not communicate well. Medication administration may be less than smooth when multiple disciplines caring for a patient do not coordinate prescribing and transcribing practices. This is true in acute care and across the continuum. Resolving ongoing care gaps requires energetic actions based on best practices, teamwork, care coordination, and clinical leadership competencies at the point of care.

Evidence base for clinical leadership

There is a body of evidence demonstrating the relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes. 7 Wong et al 7 found 19 patient outcome variables were related to leadership in the 5 categories of patient satisfaction: patient mortality, patient safety outcomes, adverse events, complications, and patient health care use. Their systematic review of 20 studies from 2005 to 2012 on the relationship of nursing leadership practices and patient outcomes demonstrated a positive relationship between relational leadership and multiple patient outcomes. A connection between supportive leadership styles and positive patient safety outcomes was noted. They concluded that “the current evidence suggests a clear relationship between relational leadership styles and lower patient mortality and reduced medication errors, restraint use, and hospital-acquired infections”. 7 Relational leadership styles were also positively and indirectly related to improved work environments and outcomes for nurses. 8 This suggests that it is important for leaders to understand the patient care processes and the role of nurses in promoting better outcomes. Among the 20 studies reviewed, transformational leadership was the most frequently used leadership theory.

Transformational leadership is an evidence-based theory used as a strategy and manifested as a style for working within the complexity of care and the use of interdisciplinary teams. 9 It is a relational leadership style and an evidence-based management practice that can form the basis of practical clinical leadership development and education. For example, the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) 10 has identified five core nurse executive competencies: leadership, communication and relationship-building, business skills, knowledge of the health care environment, and professionalism. Transformational leadership directly addresses some of the competencies in the first category of leadership. There is a solid body of evidence that transformational leadership is related to effectiveness, 9 – 12 which is especially important for working with interprofessional teams, managing the coordination of care, and innovating roles and functions as structures are changing.

Clinical leadership roles

Clinical leadership roles are often thought of as targeted to the development of nurse managers and executives. Given the need for clinical leadership development at all levels, the focus here is on the development and education of nurses as leaders who are prepared to lead at the unit, program, or microsystem level and across the continuum of care. This is the “cutting edge” where the operations of care delivery occur. Nurses in direct care roles deliver care to and coordinate the care of patients and clients. Yet, there are organizational and systems imperatives for quality and safety initiatives and innovations designed and executed by nurses. Thus, to fully enact the direct care role, nurses must be prepared to address all situations that arise at the intersection of clinical practice (provider with patient and family) with the context and environment of care (organizations and groups of multiple care providers and disciplines). This is the imperative of clinical leadership. For example, the leadership and management of care transitions, both within and across settings and sites of care, is a crucial function under implementation of the ACA and its VBP financial aspects. The traditional preparation of nurses has not emphasized these roles and functions, but rather mastery of the psychomotor and conceptual skills needed to deliver entry-level care as an RN. The US health care system has been predominantly acute care driven. Thus, there has been heavy emphasis on learning directed to acute care practice and disease-specific knowledge rather than management of populations, chronic conditions management, care integration, and care coordination among multiple disciplines and in multidisciplinary team care delivery models. A near-term acceleration of care delivery reconfigured to outpatient and primary care will change nurses’ practice settings and job requirements, including expanding roles and levels of autonomy. These changes will impact nurses’ development and educational needs. In studying new and elevated roles for nurses as care integrators, Joynt and Kimball 1 identified the following examples: serving as team leaders, CNLs serving as unit-based care managers, nurse practitioners serving as primary care providers in clinics, and nurse coaches managing transitions across settings. Three major clinical leadership roles for nurses that are positioned to enable the expectations of the ACA are care coordinator, CNL, and APRN. Since these emerging roles support the ACA, we will discuss the preparation and developmental opportunities for these roles.

Care coordinator role

As the health care environment has been changing and care is shifting to population management and outpatient settings, the care coordinator role has emerged as a new twist on case management and a new model of professional nursing practice. Nurses are often responsible for coordinating care for a group or population of patients. 13 However, this has been housed within the context of acute care delivery in the past. For example, nurses may manage populations of patients with diabetes or cardiovascular disease in acute care. In the new and emerging models, nurses are and will be managing many types of carved out populations with chronic illnesses or behavioral health conditions across settings and sites and for long time frames. New roles and jobs have been the natural result. Contemporary names are care coordinators, health coaches, navigators, or care managers. These roles have arisen in conjunction with shifts to patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations under the ACA and reimbursement shifts that have put renewed emphasis on care coordination, care management, and prevention strategies related to VBP aspects. 14 Care coordinators often serve as case managers, and care coordination is at the core of case management practice.

Case managers have a long and distinguished history of service delivery in nursing and social work. Education for the care coordinator role arises from education within the discipline (eg, nursing or social work) and often includes specialty knowledge and experience in case or population health management. There is no generally acknowledged curriculum for education and training of care coordinators or case managers, but there is a text that is a core curriculum for addressing the case manager certification exam. 15 At this point, development and education for nurses in care coordination roles tend to be outside of formal graduate education. The professional organization, the Case Management Society of America (CMSA), is the major body representing case managers. It issues standards of practice and links with transitions of care organizations. CMSA’s annual conference is a key educational event.

Case managers practice within a variety of professional disciplines. The top two work settings for case managers are health plans (28.8%) and hospitals (22.8%); most case managers are RNs (88.6%). 16 Certification is not universally mandatory; however, about 40% of employers require board certification. 16 There are many certifications available. The Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC) is the oldest, largest, and most recognized of the certifications. They use field-tested role and function studies as the basis of their certification, qualifications, and test plan. CCMC has identified eight essential activities of case management: assessment, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring, evaluation, outcomes, and general aspects. The six core components of case management are: 1) psychosocial aspects; 2) health care reimbursement; 3) rehabilitation; 4) health care management and delivery; 5) principles of practice; and 6) case management concepts. 17 These six domains form the knowledge content areas for the exam’s test plan. They can be used to guide studying for the exam. In addition, CCMC offers many other resources for case management practice, such as a code of ethics called the code of professional conduct. The California Institute for Nursing and Healthcare (CINH) conducted a nurse role exploration project. These authors call for new settings and contexts for experiential learning activities for care coordinators to enable collaboration and skill development across the continuum of care versus traditional settings and approaches. 18 That being said, intentional leadership development will be required for current and future care coordinators roles ( Figure 1 ).

Framework for intentional clinical leadership development.

Abbreviations: CNL, clinical nurse leader; APRN, advanced practice registered nurse.

Clinical nurse leader

Specific to nursing, the CNL role was conceptualized and developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and nursing leaders in 2003. 19 It was a new role in nursing, with preparation as an advanced generalist focused on transforming care at the unit of service or point of care. 20 The CNL role is especially suited to collaborative work with interprofessional teams and in the coordination of care. Prepared at the Master’s level, CNLs acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities for evidence-based practice, care coordination, teamwork, quality and safety, outcomes management, and operational management of a complex micro-system. The CNL has been described as a front-line innovator. One of the ultimate aims of the CNL is to improve patient care outcomes, costs, and satisfaction in the microsystem through the development of eight competencies, which include those of clinician, educator, advocate, outcomes manager, information manager, team manager, system analyst/risk anticipation, and member of the profession.

CNL education helps prepare nurses for opportunities to make improvements in systems at the point of care, where changes closely impact patients and families. The CNL curriculum framework centers on the domains of nursing leadership, clinical outcomes management, and care environment management. 19 AACN has promulgated the core curriculum essentials for the CNL. 21 Under the nursing leadership domain, major areas of emphasis are horizontal leadership, effective use of self, advocacy, the CNL role, and lateral integration of care. Under the clinical outcomes management domain, major areas of emphasis are illness/disease management, knowledge management, health promotion and disease, and evidence-based practice. Under the care environment management domain, major areas of emphasis are team coordination, health care finance/economics, health care systems and organizations, health care policy, quality management/risk reduction/patient safety, and informatics. This CNL curriculum framework outlines the needed development and education to be integrated with ten threads of critical thinking, communication, ethics, human diversity/cultural competence, global health care, professional development, accountability, assessment, nursing technology, and professional values in both didactic and clinical experiences within the educational program. 19 The formal program of study for the CNL culminates with a certification exam administered by AACN. CNL education prepares nurses to focus on transforming care at the point of care. CNLs have advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities in quality improvement, outcomes measurement and management, systems management, and changing leadership to bring to bear on transforming care. According to Binder, 22 little is known about structures and processes that influence successful integration, and components that influence or hinder effectiveness and sustainability of the CNL role. Therefore, the intentional framework serves to provide enabling education to influence role effectiveness ( Figure 1 ).

Advanced practice registered nurses

APRN are RNs educated at the master’s or post-master’s level (DNP [doctor of nursing practice] or PhD [doctor of philosophy]) in a specific role and patient population. APRNs are prepared, by education and certification, to assess, diagnose, and manage patient problems, to order diagnostic tests, and to prescribe medications. 23 APRNs include certified nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse-midwives. State licensing laws define the permissible scope of practice for RNs, as promulgated by state Boards of Nursing. All states regulate advanced practice nurses in some manner. Some license nurse practitioners; some grant authority to practice through certificates, recognition, or registration. In granting authority to practice beyond the RN’s scope of practice, boards rely upon conventional authority mechanisms. These include graduation from approved educational programs and certification examinations. Many states rely on national certification programs to measure competency. APRNs typically are educated at the graduate level with in-depth preparation for a specialty practice, then take a certification exam, then comply with individual state licensing requirements. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s 24 “Consensus Model for APRN Regulation: Licensure, Accreditation, Certification and Education” provides guidance for states to adopt uniformity in the regulation of APRN roles. However, considerable variation remains from state to state. Under the consensus model, all APRNs must pass a national certification exam. APRN practice is seen as building on the competencies of RNs, demonstrating a greater depth and breadth of knowledge, greater synthesis of data, increased complexity of skills and interventions, and having greater role autonomy.

APRNs have found jobs in acute care hospitals, managing care for specialty populations. They are also embedded in primary care as primary care providers. For example, rural health clinics in Iowa rely on senior clinical personnel such as physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners to provide care coordination, care and case management, and identification of high-risk patients. 25 APRNs also are seeing a renaissance in other expanded roles. For example, unit-based APRNs working in collaboration with a physician-hospitalist to manage patients on a general medicine unit in an academic medical center was the focus of a new unit-based role for APRNs at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 26 They noted that using APRNs in this way provided an opportunity for advanced practice nursing to assume a leadership role. Team effectiveness was a major focus. There has been considerable research done to compare patient outcomes of care provided by APRNs and physicians. The conclusion is that outcomes of care by APRNs in collaboration with physicians are comparable, and in some instances better, than care by a physician alone. A systematic review concluded that APRN care is safe, cost-effective, and results in similar clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction as compared to care by physicians alone for the populations and in the settings of the reviewed studies. 27 According to M Lofgren (personal communication, March 15, 2014), APRNs are in great need of business skills for collaboration and role effectiveness in organizations. That being said, intentional leadership development will be required for current and future APRNs ( Figure 1 ).

Clinical leadership opportunities

Health care systems and organizations must constantly gauge environmental forces and trends in patient care delivery to determine competency gaps within the workforce. Strategic and intentional development of clinical leaders can occur through education and training. The evidence base from business management research proves that leadership knowledge, skill, and abilities can be taught. Now it is clear that they should be taught in health care. The AACN’s BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), CNL, and DNP Essentials all require this. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) TeamSTEPPS initiative is an example of ways to address common clinical leadership challenges such as creating and maintaining high-functioning interdisciplinary teams. Thus, intentional leadership development is an important opportunity. Wilmoth and Shapiro 28 have called for the adoption of a common framework for intentional leadership development that will enable nurses to lead at any level in any health care organization. Intentional leadership development can be conceptualized as new curricula, additional education, enabling innovation, use of reflective narratives about leadership roles, engaging in research on interdependency, and trialing of thinking strategies ( Figure 1 ). This call is in synchronicity with national initiatives such as the AACN’s DNP competencies, 29 as seen in AACN Essential #2 Organizations and Systems Leadership for Quality Improvement and Systems Thinking, and many professional nursing organizations. Intentional leadership development needs to be designed based on perceived educational needs and practice gaps to enable clinical leadership development at the point of care.

Core concepts for clinical leadership development and education

It is exciting to see new roles emerge for nurses as the US health care delivery system reconfigures to address cost, quality, and access issues. Nursing has been a profession rich in opportunities to grow and enrich the delivery of patient care services. Nurses find many practice settings and sites need the unique skills of an RN. The emergence of care coordination, CNL, and APRN roles has occurred in part because of the need for continuity of care and management of care transitions that were not well addressed in an acute care focused, episodic delivery system. Care was disconnected, chronic diseases were not well managed, and patients experienced gaps when only acute medical episodes were the focus. Care coordination has been demonstrated to be an important solution, common to all three roles. However, there are challenges to enabling creativity, problem solving, and innovation at the clinical leadership level for care coordination. These challenges arise in part because of the nature of knowledge acquisition in science-based professions, training in psychomotor skills that focus on repetitive task learning, and the use of structured clinical practice protocols, all of which tend not to expand and enable creativity and innovation.

As health care professions focus on their ever-expanding discipline-specific knowledge base, there is less time to teach and learn interdependence-based skills and have creative think time. The need to reduce variation through evidence-based practice and standardized protocols and the countervailing need to rapidly solve complex practice issues, such as when a serious event occurs like a fatal medication error due to a flaw in the process or poor communication, will cause a dynamic tension at the point of care. With a complex and rapidly changing health care environment, clearly the interconnection of evidence-based practice with ingenuity is essential to address and solve clinical practice problems, especially within multidisciplinary teams. Innovation and interdependency are two core concepts that serve as an opportunity to better inform clinical leadership development, education, and practice.

Innovation is defined as use of a new mindset in a different context to enable creative linkages that will generate a solution or adaptation to a practice problem. Innovation requires that there be a wrap-around support system or environment that incubates innovativeness. The leader’s role is to create supportive environments for inquiry, new mindsets, and contexts to foster innovation. 30 This requires a differently developed set of clinical leadership competencies. Solutions for the practice environment are evolving toward evidence-based practice as the standard. Evidence-based practice, defined as unifying research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values and preferences, 31 is being adopted by nurses and used as a marker of excellence. However, when implementing evidence-based practice, contexts will differ and best solutions may need to arise from innovation. This will require that leaders use a new mindset to successfully adapt recommendations for implementation. For example, under VBP, prevention of readmissions is an imperative. Thus the implementation of enhanced discharge planning is an evidence-based response. However, contexts differ, such as the degree to which electronic health records systems are compatible with each other and across settings and are adapted to discharge communication effectiveness. If poorly implemented, crucial medication administration information, such as discontinuing a medication when going home, may be lost between acute care and home care systems. The potential for catastrophic outcomes is significant. Clinical leadership is needed to generate innovative solutions. Another example is the use of a smartphone application for weight loss in overweight primary care patients. 32 This shows how health care is changing with regard to how patient care issues are managed using home management augmented by technology.

Innovation enriches clinical leadership development and training because it enlarges the nurse’s repertoire of strategies for problem solving in complex situations. As new issues emerge, creative solutions are needed. There may not be enough time to use incremental change strategies, such as in situations of sentinel events or serious safety near misses. If there is adequate time, the solution still may be complex. For example, technology solutions to access issues include implementation of telehealth. Opening a telehealth clinic at an employer’s work site offers better access, but also involves complex infrastructure (secure video feed), equipment (telehealth carts with monitors, cameras, and diagnostic equipment), and staff (new roles for RNs and APRNs).

Use of strategies to enable creativity and problem solving will be critical (Huber et al, unpublished data, 2015). According to Berrett, 33 there are various types of thinking approaches to enable problem solving for creativity and innovation. The key to problem solving is making unique connections. He discussed two thinking concepts that, if used intentionally, may support clinical leadership development. These include divergent thinking, which allows the clinical leader to come up with alternative ideas and theories to solve problems (generating creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions), and abductive logic, which relies on inference when information is incomplete (a medical diagnosis is an example). These two forms of scientific reasoning offer the clinical leader a novel way to reflect on and analyze problems, situations, and the context for implementation of strategies to achieve outcomes. Use of expanded thinking allows the individual to yield a large number of possible answers and make creative leaps in situations.

Developing a workplace context to support and enable a mindset for innovation will be essential. According to Joseph, 30 a culture and climate for innovativeness is needed to spark and sustain the inquiry needed for innovation. Seven organizational antecedents are required to enable a culture and climate, so workers can innovate. These include organizational identification, organizational support, organizational values, relational leadership, nurse–nurse relationships, and nurse–nurse leader relationships. These findings illustrate that the work environment must be conducive to enabling innovation as an important element to reduce serious safety and quality issues and workforce shortages in health care. The author presented unit-level, interdepartmental-level, and system-level actions for all levels of leadership to enable innovation. When change is considered as either incremental change or revolutionary disruptive change, innovation is targeted at revolutionary disruptive change. Disruptive change is often needed for successful use of clinical leadership when multiple disciplines are interdependent or during rapid change in complex situations. This is because of the inertia or resistance to change commonly encountered when making planned changes in practice. Intentional leadership development in innovation is a clinical leadership opportunity.

Interdependency

Interdependency is defined as the extent to which each worker’s performance and patient outcomes are dependent, controlled, or determined by other workers (Joseph et al, unpublished data, 2015). Interdependency enriches clinical leadership development and training because it focuses attention on the basic fact that, just like General Systems Theory pointed out how a change in one part of a system affects all parts of a system, so too do the actions of any one person affect all the others in the care team. Interdependency is a common phenomenon in clinical leadership roles of care coordination, CNL, and APRN because care is complex, often delivered by a team, and performed across a continuum of care. Interdependency is intricately intertwined with teamwork and collaboration.

According to Stichler, 34 recognition and acknowledgment of interdependence is critical to the development of a collaborative relationship. All members of the relationship must acknowledge that neither they nor any other person in the group can independently solve the problem or accomplish the stated goal, and they must have a willingness to voluntarily engage in the process. Collaboration is an interactive process characterized by mutuality, reciprocity, and interdependence that often leads to outcomes that could not be achieved otherwise. Every person in the interaction is affected by and affects the process of communication, creating a synthesis of cognitions, feelings, and expertise, which moves the internal system forward as a collective whole, rather than the sum of its collective parts. The work of Gerteis et al 35 on patient-centered care demonstrated that interactions between providers, systems, and institutions affect patients’ experiences both positively and negatively. For example, a competency for the CNL role is to participate as a team member and lead a team in the microsystem. Significant impact can be achieved through interdisciplinary teams charged with improving clinical outcomes, especially when the scope is between departments or locations of care. 6

In complex care environments, interdisciplinary teams are used to address quality, safety, and effectiveness issues. There is a great need to enhance team formation and functioning in health care. For example, AHRQ of the US Department of Health and Human Services 36 in collaboration with the Department of Defense’s Patient Safety Program developed an evidence-based teamwork system designed for health care professionals as a solution to improving patient safety by improving communication and teamwork skills called TeamSTEPPS. AHRQ offers on its website ready-to-use materials and a training curriculum to successfully integrate teamwork principles into all areas of a health care system. Using more than 20 years of research and lessons from the application of teamwork principles, many units or microsystems of organizations have done TeamSTEPPS training to address interdependency issues and create safety or quality improvement outcomes. 37

Recommendations for future clinical leadership development and education for nurses

Patient care is increasingly moving to outpatient, community, and primary care settings in the US, and more nursing services are transitioning to community, outpatient, and home settings. 38 This has created a new configuration for the practice of nursing that nurses have not been specifically prepared to fill in a care delivery system that traditionally was predominated by jobs in the acute care sector. Educators are challenged to develop, train, and educate nurses both for nursing practice in general and also for the types of jobs that nurses are projected to obtain. This is a complicated situation, given that it takes 4 years to prepare an RN at the baccalaureate level. Thus the vision for education needs to be at least 4 years out. The knowledge, skills, and abilities for clinical leadership can and should be taught at the BSN level in order to prepare students for clinical leadership roles. Clinical leadership roles occur postlicensure, with education being postbaccalaureate at the Master’s (CNL) or DNP level. Education and training is based on a combination of specific experience levels and further knowledge acquisition. Thus, clinical leadership requires additional education and experience. Because changing a curriculum does not produce an immediate change in the types of graduates or their preparation for specific care environments, shifting the preparation of nurses for expanded settings and sites with reconfigured care integration roles will take time, effort, leadership development strategies in practice, and strategic curriculum transformations.

Since clinical leadership requires additional education and experience, engaging in practice narratives or stories can enable ongoing clinical leadership development. Smith and Liehr’s 39 middle-range theory of attentively embracing story can be used as a structure to guide reflective leadership development. This theory consists of prompts for reflection that offer a window to look inside the self and to know one’s self as one strives toward understanding and realizing the meaning of desirable or best practice. The use of storytelling or documentation of narratives is recounting one’s current situation to clarify present meaning in relation to the past with an eye to the future. Clinical leaders need to reflect on three prompts: 1) how did I feel in this situation?; 2) what were the core tasks or interactions used in this situation?; and 3) how do I ensure self-development and support in a similar situation? This process of reflection will provide insight into future behavior in a similar situation or new situation. It is clear that nurses need to be life-long learners, using development, training, reflection prompts, and advanced education to acquire specialized knowledge and skills.

Berrett 33 questioned how society would compete in a global economy if students are being taught how to adapt to yesterday’s world in today’s world. He recommended that creativity should be infused in all curricula. That being said, identifying innovations for care coordination, the CNL, and APRN roles will require crossing boundaries to become exposed to new contexts to innovate 40 (Joseph et al, unpublished data, 2015). Joseph et al (unpublished data, 2015) have described a curriculum innovation designed to have students observe coordination and collaboration in other industries to apply a new mindset and examine the situation in new contexts to determine linkages for solutions in health care or nursing practice.

Interdependency needs to be studied and understood beyond the concept of collaboration to ensure role effectiveness and clinical outcomes. The goal is high-functioning teams that respond rapidly and create and innovate effective solutions to practice problems, thus demonstrating clinical leadership. There is a growing evidence base to draw from. For example, in a 2009 study, Joseph et al 41 developed a six-item interdependency scale based on a previous conceptual framework of interdependence structure of interpersonal situations by Rusbult and Van Lange. 42 The Cronbach α for the study scale was 0.687 from a sample of 317 unique observations in a 1,200-bed tertiary hospital in the Southern United States. This measure has promise for enabling awareness, responsibility, and leadership within teams to affect patient outcomes. The scale allowed team members to examine their level of interdependency in the context of the team and examine whether team members understand each other’s roles in the context of achieving patient goals and outcomes.

Nursing practice is at a cusp where leadership competencies are imperative to ensure the reconfiguration of health care delivery in support of the ACA and health care delivery. The future of health care warrants new roles and ways of leading to ensure solutions for a changing environment. The call for the adoption of a common framework for intentional leadership development by Wilmoth and Shapiro 28 is timely for care coordinators, CNLs, and APRNs in an evolving health care environment ( Figure 1 ). A great way to start is by using available resources for the development and education of nurses in these essential clinical leadership roles. Two major concepts at the core of these evolving roles are innovation and interdependency. Curriculum, in-service training, narrative, thinking strategies and reflective practice, continuing education, and other educational efforts can target these concepts as a way of augmenting knowledge, skills, and abilities in care coordination and clinical leadership in nursing.

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL)

The Clinical Nurse Leader or CNL® is a master’s educated nurse, prepared for practice across the continuum of care within any healthcare setting. The CNL was developed by AACN in collaboration with leaders from healthcare practice and education to address the critical need to improve the quality of patient care outcomes.

The CNL is a clinical leader - at the point of care – who focuses on:

• Care Coordination
• Outcomes Measurement
• Transitions of Care
• Interprofessional Communication & Team Leadership
• Risk Assessment
• Implementation of Best Practices Based on Evidence
• Quality Improvement

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CNL Certification Exam Review Modules

The modules were created for those seeking to prepare for the CNL Certification Examination, practicing CNLs renewing certification through continuing education units (CEUs), and others seeking nursing continuing professional development opportunities. 

The CNL Certification Exam Review Course features 17 chapters across 6 separate modules.  By completing all 6 modules, you are eligible to receive 18 continuing education credits.

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CNL Job Analysis Survey July 29, 2022 CNC along with Prometric SMT and members of the CNL Job Analysis Committee have finalized the survey instrument that will determine the skills and abilities required to perform the job of the Clinical Nurse Leader. Click here to access the CNL Job Analysis Survey ! We ask all CNLs to complete the survey to assist CNC in developing the content outline for the new CNL exam that will be administered during Spring 2023 testing period. 

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Robert Rose , MS, RN, NEA-BC Market Chief Nurse Executive, Central Division Atrium Health

Jeanne Bernier , MSN, RN, CNL CNL Program Director Mississippi College

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Chrissy Bass , MS, RN, NEA-BC Clinical Nurse Leader Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center

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Nursing School Personal Statement: 5 Best Examples

Read our top 5 sample statements.

These outstanding nursing school personal statement examples have been approved by our admission experts who have helped countless students get into their top choice nursing programs. Whether you are at the beginning stages of a nursing career looking to apply to nursing school or wanting to further your career by becoming a nurse practitioner or a clinical nurse specialist, you will probably have to write a nursing school personal statement to gain admission to your program of choice. Your nursing school personal statement is one of the best ways to stand out in a nursing school application . In this blog, we are going to guide you in the process of crafting a strong personal statement that highlights your skills as well as the characteristics you possess that make you a good fit for the program.

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Article Contents 20 min read

Nursing school personal statement examples, nursing school personal statement sample 1.

I stood there not knowing what to do and being completely sure I had made the biggest mistake of my life. My decision to travel to a remote area of the Amazon jungle in Colombia to work as an elementary school tutor felt like the right one at first, but as soon as I got there, I regretted it. Being faced with the harsh reality of a struggling community made me feel completely out of place. It was heart breaking to witness such a palpable scarcity of resources and realize that there was not much that I could do. It took a lot of determination and adaptability to overcome the shock. Eventually, I learned to navigate this new world and embrace my role in the community. I planned lessons for the children and used all my free time to teach their parents to read and write. I developed teaching materials adapting them to my students’ context in order to make them meaningful. In the end, I realized I had become part of their lives, and I was humbled to have met such an amazing group of people. This experience taught me the true meaning of altruism and the value of hard work. This, alongside the cultural sensitivity that I developed, is what I am bringing with me to this new step in my life.

Becoming a nurse has been my goal for a long time. As a child, due to an unfortunate kitchen accident, I burned my arms with hot water and had to stay in the hospital for serval days. I remember being very scared and in pain, but there was a lady in a white uniform who would come to visit me every afternoon. I always enjoyed seeing her because she spoke to me in a way that almost seemed like she was telling me a story, and that put me at ease. One day, I asked her why she always wore white, and she said she was a nurse. ‘A nurse’, I said to myself, thinking that was exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. She was kind and compassionate, and she knew how to explain things. Those traits that I learned from her are the same skills that I have been honing ever since, as I know they will be essential in my future profession.

I could see my breath crystalize in the air as I exhaled, dribbling and dodging the opposing players on my way to the goal. “I’m open,” shouted my teammate, poised right in front of the penalty box, waving his arms. Two more players stood between me and the goal. I hesitated, wondering if I should trust my teammate or try to score the winning point. Turning, I launched the ball into the air with a swift kick, and watched nervously as my teammate stopped it and sent it soaring above the goalie’s head. As the crowd erupted in celebratory cheers, the game time buzzer rang out across the field and I knew I had done the right thing. Every team victory that season was a personal victory, sparking a feeling of elation that I seek to replicate as a member of whichever health care team I have the privilege of joining.

My biggest soccer fan was always my grandmother, who even brought orange slices for the team to practices, claiming, “The little things are the most important!” Several winters ago, my grandmother unknowingly exposed me to nursing when she was hospitalized with pneumonia so severe that we were unsure if she would survive. Though her whole care team was dedicated, her nurse, Jackie, always went above and beyond to make sure my grandmother was comfortable and happy. Every day, Jackie would pop her head into the room and say “How’s my girl today?” or stop what she was doing to run a cool cloth over my grandmother’s feverish forehead. Each time I had to leave the hospital was gut-wrenching, but I felt better knowing that nurse Jackie treated my grandmother with such empathy. I remember being in awe of her kindness when I found out she left my grandmother sticky notes filled with encouraging messages while she was sleeping. When my grandmother asked her why she spent so much time on such little things when she had so many patients to attend to, Jackie winked and whispered, “The little things are the most important!” While I did not know I wanted to be a nurse in that moment, observing the profound impact Jackie made on my grandmother sparked a strong desire to explore the medical field.

Inspired by Jackie’s compassion for patients like my grandmother, I aimed to make the same difference when I signed up to volunteer at Riverview Hospital. With lofty goals of becoming a physician, I threw myself into my volunteering efforts, often coming in early or staying late to help stock supplies. Whenever I had a spare moment, I would chat with a patient, rearrange their pillows, or a myriad of other small things. One of the most striking aspects of my volunteering experience was how little time Riverview doctors were able to spend with their patients due to the sheer number of people to whom they had to attend. Nurses, on the other hand, had near constant interaction with longer-term patients: assisting them to the bathroom, administering medications, or changing IV fluid bags while chatting with them about how they were feeling. I was reminded of Jackie when I watched how tenderly one of the nurses changed their wincing patient’s bandages, all while trying to distract them with friendly conversation. Even aside from the comforting gestures I witnessed so frequently, it was the little things that made such a huge difference in patients’ wellbeing. Without nurses there to help execute the game play, the team would never score! Always a team-player, I knew I wanted to be a nurse.

Though my time spent on the soccer field is less and less these days, I am thrilled about the possibility of joining a new team and working hard to bring us to victory. My introduction to nursing through nurse Jackie could not have been better. Seeing the relief she brought to my grandmother in her most vulnerable state inspired me to do the same for others. Watching the nurses at Riverview Hospital expertly fulfill their duties while treating each patient as an individual cemented my desire to become a nurse who remembers that the little things are the most important. I want to be there with the assist right before the buzzer, helping my patients win, because every victory on a care team will be personal. (Word count: 719)

Nursing School Personal Statement Sample 3

“Help!” my friend Jack screamed as his faced swelled up due to an extreme allergic reaction to a candy bar he had just eaten. At the time, I did not know what to do, except to call for an ambulance. As we arrived at the hospital, I stayed by my friend’s side to offer my support. I saw the physicians and nurses swarmed around him, ready to take action. After my friend’s condition had been stabilized, he was left with the fear of another anaphylactic episode. It was his nurse that was able to calm his fears as she educated him on anaphylaxis and how to make the appropriate dietary changes. While I did not know how to respond with medical attention when my friend needed me, I gained a new purpose. I was inspired to become a nurse and to guide patients in times of uncertainty through compassion and education.  

To build my understanding of the nursing profession, I pursued experiences that would allow me to gain first-hand experience in the healthcare field. I secured a volunteer position at a children’s hospital where I was responsible for checking patients in and ensuring they were comfortable as they waited for their appointments. I was eager to practice helping calm patient nerves, just as the nurse had done for my friend Jack. Through consoling a memorable patient, named ‘Ryan,’ I learned the importance of working in a team of professionals. ‘Ryan’ was crying as he waited for his appointment since he was experiencing pain due to a broken leg. I talked to Ryan in an attempt to calm him down, but I was initially unsuccessful. To hone my approach, I asked a nurse on staff at the hospital how she approached children that are in pain. She shared with me that it is helpful to try to get their mind off the pain, for example by distracting them with an entertaining story. The next time I saw a patient crying like ‘Ryan’ had been, I was armed with funny jokes and engaging stories from my own childhood that I could share to take their mind off of the pain they were experiencing. From my time as a hospital volunteer, I learned that feedback from a team is critical to advancing professionally and providing optimal patient care. I look forward to becoming a nurse myself and working with my team of healthcare professionals to achieve this common goal. 

In my final year of university, I became involved with clinical research; as a research assistant, I approached patients in the same children’s hospital in which I had earlier been a volunteer, but now I worked to enroll patients in our research study. My purpose was to explain the goal of the study to families in the hospital, educating them on its potential impact and answering any questions they had about enrolling. This task was challenging because I was approaching families that I had not yet built a rapport with, and I needed to establish trust before asking if they wanted to enroll their child in our study. This required empathy for the hardship they were experiencing with a sick child, as well as an understanding of how to relay complex information in a way that was approachable to a variety of audiences. I learned that it is best to first ask the patient, or their family, what their understanding of a topic is to establish a baseline from which to build a conversation. In the future, as a nurse, I hope to apply what I have learned to build rapport with patients and their families for greater healthcare outcomes while ensuring that my patients are comfortable under my care. 

Since my friend Jack’s anaphylactic episode, I have taken the initiative to explore the field of nursing and to build the teamwork and communication skills needed to be a successful future nurse. I look forward to my first day of nursing school where I will be surrounded by peers that share the same vision for the future as me: to train as a nurse in order to provide outstanding care to those in distress alongside a team of dedicated professionals. (696 words)

Nursing School Personal Statement Sample 4

Nursing school personal statement sample 5.

The process of creating a strong nursing personal statement starts even before you begin writing. There is a certain amount of preparation that should take place to identify the specific information you want to include in your essay. So, make sure you take all the necessary steps before you are faced with the daunting, but fun, task of writing your first draft. Remember to give yourself between 6 to 8 weeks to write your statement. Be prepared to write several drafts as you edit and change your essay!

The Brainstorming Stage

The first step is what we call the brainstorming stage. You will need to do some soul searching and write many ideas as they come to you. Working on this step can take you anywhere between a couple of hours to a whole week. It really depends on you and how much you can actually remember from your personal history. There are two types of information that you will need to focus on at this stage: 

#1 Personal experiences

The goal behind this step is to start gathering information about your personal story and about any experiences that you have had from which you learned something valuable. The lessons you learned should relate directly to nursing or have contributed to your decision to become a nurse . You want to answer the question: “ Why do you want to be a nurse? ”

In order to do this, think about your life as a child, the characteristics of the place where you were born and raised, any meaningful experiences that may have sparked your interest in the nursing field, any contact that you had with the healthcare world, or any healthcare workers in your family that had some influence on you. Then consider your high school and teenage years and any events that may have increased your interest in becoming a nurse. How did you finalize your decision to apply to nursing school? Did you have an ‘a-ha’ moment, or was it a more gradual process? Whatever the answers to these questions may be, be sure to identify these key moments because they will be useful for addressing the thesis of your essay, which is why you decided to devote your life to a career in nursing.

Here are some examples of meaningful experiences that can potentially spark, or validate, an individual’s interest to become a nurse or what nursing means to you :

• Being raised in a rural area with limited access to health care and wanting to do something about it in the future;
• Growing up in an urban setting where great social disparity is evident and identifying opportunities to contribute to levelling up these differences;
• Experiencing a personal injury or diagnosis that created opportunities to interact with nurses in a clinical setting;
• Watching the illness of a loved one and seeing the impact that nurses have on a patient’s journey;
• Volunteering at something related to the health sciences or an unrelated field with plenty of opportunities for helping others and interacting with them;
• Conducting research in something related to the field;
• Being involved in extracurricular activities that can lead to reaching a high level of compassion or maturity

Remember to always follow show, don’t tell in any personal statement you write:

#2 Nursing school research

Gather as much information as you can about the program so you can identify the specific things you like about it. It is very important to know the reason, or reasons, why you want to apply to a specific program.

In order to do this, you can look at the program’s website and pinpoint two or three specific aspects that interest you. Do you like the program’s curriculum? If so, what do you like about it? Do you like the research lab? Why do you like it? Have you done research in the past? Has this prepared you to make good use of this lab and contribute to whatever research they do here? Do you like the extracurricular initiatives the program offers? Do these align with any extracurricular activities you did in the past? Do you like the opportunities for patient interaction that the program provides? Why? Have you had patient interactions before? What did you learn from them that you can use moving forward? Knowing the specific reasons why you have chosen this program in particular is essential to write a strong essay later on.

Remember that besides telling universities what you hope to get from them, you will also need to show how you can complement their program. Showing what you can bring to the table, by referencing specific experiences you have had in these areas of interest, is the best way for programs to know that you will be successful if you are admitted. 

Look at these skills that are essential in the nursing field, and which are highly valued by nursing schools. You have probably already developed many of these throughout your life and through your experiences. Try to match these values and traits directly to your personal experiences in your essay.

As previously mentioned, the main goal of the brainstorming stage is to identify your reason for wanting to become a nurse as well as the relevant personal experiences that you can reference to support this decision. We suggest you make a list of five to seven experiences that you could potentially include in your essay. This list is going to be significantly reduced later to one or two, but it is good to have a good amount to start with.

As soon as you identify these meaningful experiences, be sure to also identify what you learned from them; that is, the skills you developed, the characteristics you refined, or any learning that resulted from going through these events in your life. Think about this carefully and select those skills that align with the ones your program of choice values. The information collected here is going to be essential later on when you start writing your essay.

Like any other academic essay, your nursing school personal statement should follow an academic structure and be organized in three major sections: introduction, body, and conclusion. See below for information on what each of these sections should include:

1. Introduction

This is your opening paragraph and, as such, it is the first impression you are going to cause on your readers; that is, the members of the admission committee. The purpose of an introduction is to act as a road map that allows the reader to understand where your story is going.

Important to remember here is the fact that an introduction can make or break your essay, so you need to come up with a very good opening sentence. This is the one that will draw the reader in and make them want to keep reading. Your opening sentence can be a quote, an anecdote, an event, or any idea that is captivating and enticing.

For example:

• “It was three in the morning, and I was sitting in an empty room trying to think how my life had come to this.”
• “He did not need to say anything; I knew something was wrong just by looking at him.”

Sentences such as these ones will leave the reader wanting to know more. There is a reason opening sentences are also called ‘hook’ sentences. Can you think of a good hook sentence to open your essay with? 

2. Body Paragraphs

The body of your essay is where you elaborate on the ideas introduced in your opening by providing personal examples. Remember all the brainstorming we asked you to do? This is where that information comes in handy. Your body paragraphs should include information about those meaningful experiences that you have gone through that have sparked and solidified you interest in pursuing a career in nursing.

Depending on the word limit required by your program, you will decide how many of these experiences to include. We asked you to come up with five to seven during the brainstorming stage of the writing process. Now, since our recommendation is quality over quantity, you should plan to include maximum two or three experiences and present one experience in each paragraph. Of course, one experience per paragraph is not all it takes. Besides presenting the experience, you need to include what skills or characteristics you developed because of this event and how you will be able to apply these skills moving forward in your nursing profession.

In case the program provided a specific question or prompt to be addressed, add a fourth paragraph where you answer this question. It is important to tell the program what they want to know, so do not forget to include this information as part of your body paragraphs.

Mention how your skills can be drawn upon in the future in order to give the admissions committee a glimpse of the type of nurse and professional you are going to be. Remember some of the essential skills in the nursing profession that we mentioned above and see how they connect to your past experiences. 

3. Conclusion

The same way we place great importance on the introduction of a nursing school personal statement, we also want to emphasize the big role that your concluding paragraph has on your entire text. The most important thing we can tell you is that a conclusion should not be a summary. It should, instead, be a place to emphasize some of the major ideas you previously discussed and, when possible, it should circle back to the introduction.

Conclusions have to be insightful and captivating. They should convey a sense of closure and an invitation to keep reflecting on the ideas that were presented in the essay. Think that this is the very last thing that the admissions committee will read from you. What is the last impression that you want to leave on these people? Be creative! 

Here are some more nursing school personal statement examples to help you!

Here are some other aspects about drafting your personal statement to be considered:

Besides all the information that you brainstormed from your own personal history and from the programs\u2019 websites regarding the areas that interest you, there is something else that should be part of the content of your essay, and that is the prompt. You need to be aware of the prompt of the essay provided to you by the program, and you always want to address it. Some programs will ask for a general essay describing your motivations to become a nurse, in which case the information you gathered during the brainstorming stage will suffice, while others will give you a specific question to answer, in which case one paragraph of your essay should be devoted to answering said question.  ","label":"Content","title":"Content"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

No matter how much effort and time you put in writing your personal statement, there is a high probability that the committee members will not spend too much time reading it. Do not take this personally. They go through many application documents from many applicants like you and do not want to waste too much time reading one single essay, especially if it is not interesting enough. They want, instead, to be able to identify in a few minutes whether you are the person they are looking for.

This, of course, creates the need for applicants to write essays that have great content, great structure, and that have that ‘it’ factor that will make them stand out in a nursing school application . Your essay should be easy to read and have a great narrative. It should not read like a nursing school application resume or list every single experience you have had in chronological order. As we mentioned before, quality is better than quantity, and your nursing school personal essay should have precisely that: quality.

What experiences should end up in your body paragraphs? That is up to you. What we can suggest is that you diversify the content by highlighting experiences from different dimensions of your life. Having one of the paragraphs address a personal experience, the second address a research or academic experience, and the third address a volunteering or extracurricular activity is much better than including three experiences related to only research, for instance. Be strategic in how you showcase your skills!

Follow these steps to start drafting you essay: 

• Remember all the information you brainstormed earlier? The first thing you need to do is identify the top three experiences from your life that you want to include. 
• Once you have them, write them in bullet points. Create one bullet point for each that mentions what the experience is. 
• Then, expand each bullet point into sentences and these sentences into paragraphs. 
• As we mentioned above, each paragraph should have three essential elements: what the experience was (i.e., the meaningful experience), the main takeaways you got from it (i.e., skills you developed, characteristics you enhanced, etc.), and future applications (i.e., how you can apply this learning moving forward). 
• Once you have your paragraphs ready to go, make sure you start each one of them with a good opening sentence. Each paragraph should follow the same structure of the general essay. This will create flow and cohesion between ideas.
• You can look at sample medical school personal statements and think how these medical school essays could be applied to the nursing field.

Ok, so you finished writing your first draft. Good job! However, this is only the beginning. Once you are happy with your first draft, you will need to receive expert feedback on it. Having a professional like a nursing school admissions consulting service look at your essay and suggest changes to enhance what you have written is vital to create a strong product. You will see that, more often than not, these experts will be able to identify weak areas and ineffective ideas that you will not perceive.

Once someone else looks at your essay, be sure to incorporate their suggestions, work on editing and polishing up your document, and do another revision. Crafting the perfect essay that will grant you admission to your dream program is a process that should be done carefully and conscientiously. That means multiple revisions and edits are essential. In general, writing a strong competitive essay does not happen overnight. The whole process can take several weeks. So, be prepared to put in the effort and remember to do some happy writing!

The nursing school personal statement should highlight some of your most meaningful personal experiences and the skills you gained through them that will make you a great nursing professional. It should provide a good narrative that will help the admissions committee know more about you as a person and about your chance to be successful in their program. By showing that you possess certain skills that are important in the nursing profession, the committee members will see that you are a good fit.

Writing your personal essay is not an easy task and should not be taken lightly, but when you finally finish writing and look at the amazing essay you have created, you will feel satisfied with the job you did and will be able to show your program of choice why they need to have you.

No. Essays may or may not be required, depending on the program. You can check this portal and this portal to learn more.

No. There are a few steps that you wan to follow before you actually start writing. One of those is the brainstorming stage, and it will help you come up with all the ideas and information that you will need to write a good essay.

Personal information and information about the program or the areas that interest you.

Personal experiences that have been meaningful enough and that have allowed you to develop different skills that are important in the nursing field.

You need to identify the two or three areas of the program that attract you the most and see how those relate to your own experiences.

To identify the reasons that have led you to pursue a career in nursing.

It should have an academic structure and include an introduction, three or four body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Yes, it is! You need to stay within the limit in order to show that you can be concise and also follow instructions.

Then you make sure you address it. Do not leave this information out, as it is essential to provide the program with the information they want to know.

Because it is the first impression that you are going to have on your readers.

It should begin with a captivating opening sentence in the introduction. A statement, quote, or anecdote that is creative and that sparks curiosity on the reader.

You want to describe one meaningful experience per paragraph (i.e., personal example), include the main takeaways from this experience, and how this learning can be applied in the future.

You need to have an expert give you feedback on it. You may think it is already perfect, but personal essays usually require lots of revisions before they can be at the competitive stage.

It depends on the writer, but it is usually something that does not happen overnight. It usually takes several weeks. It depends on how much access you have to professionals who can provide good feedback and how much time you devote to incorporating their suggestions.

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What your nursing personal statement should say about you

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This is a question I asked myself when I wrote my nursing personal statement: ‘What do they want from me? What do they really want to hear?’.

You can write as much or little as possible on a personal statement (within the given word count), but what you write has to count - I’d say it was more about quality over quantity with this one.

But hopefully, I can give you some good quality information to help you write the perfect statement to bag you that interview and hopefully, the job!

Firstly, every statement should be unique to the role you’re applying for; so, remember to change it for every time you apply for a new job.

Secondly, always look at the Trust’s values, person specification and any other information they have uploaded for you; this is going to tell you what they are expecting from you to guide you to write your statement.

You will need to follow their essential and desirable criteria and give examples of how you have achieved these.

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Now, what do most Trusts look for?

From my experience they want you to be the 6 Cs of Nursing; Care, Compassion, Commitment, Courage, Competence, Communication.

So, you have to demonstrate this within your statement along with some nice key themes such as; being empathetic, maintain dignity, being patient centred and showing trust - Trust values are normally built on these.

Furthermore, Trusts will want to provide the best care possible to patients and they want to see how you meet this through your statement and then in your interview.

Is at the heart of nursing and the care you provide should help to improve an individual’s health and wellbeing.

They might also want to see that you genuinely care about other people and helping out.

This is how care is given which is based on empathy, dignity and respect.

This refers to the commitment to paitients and their individual care and overall experience.

This helps you to do the right thing at the right time.

It also enables you to speak up when needed.

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However, everyone will be writing the same skills and experience (more than likely), so you also want to add something to make yourself stand out from the crowd .

Your statement should show you as a person and not just a generic piece of writing of what you can and can’t do.

Moreover, you need to shine, show that personality and passion through your writing.

Some personal statements I have been asked to read, have genuinely given me goose bumps, because you can feel that passion through the page, it’s lovely.

Nonetheless, I know it can be quite hard to get your head in the right place to do this.

Something I do, is, close my eyes and visualise the place, time, experience that I want to talk about.

I put myself back into that place and how lovely it made me feel at the time, which brings back those feelings and I will start writing.

Your statement should also show how committed you are to nursing and your long term goals should incorporate this.

Trusts want to see you are in it for the long run, not just a quick job fix at the time.

Some other things that would be worth mentioning are:

Multi-professional working

How you can effectively work within the multi-disciplinary team and build good relationships with other professionals.

Give examples of how you have done this and why it has benefited your team.

Administering medication safely

How you avoid drug errors?

What thing’s do you do?

This will show you are practising safely and will continue to do so when working for the Trust you’re applying for.

Accurate record keeping

However you have kept records whether it is paper and pen or on a computer you have to show how you did this and how you maintained confidentiality.

You need to show that you can write legible and accurately, which is why you need to get someone to proofread your personal statement just in case too!

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College personal statement examples and writing tips.

A crucial step in your nursing journey is learning how to write a personal statement that resonates with admissions committees and vividly portrays your passion for healthcare. This collection of amazing personal statement examples is curated to guide and inspire you as you articulate your aspirations, experiences, and motivation to pursue nursing.

What is a Personal Statement?

A personal statement is a written narrative that typically forms a significant part of an application to universities, colleges, or professional programs, particularly in fields like nursing. It’s an opportunity for junior year applicants to present themselves beyond test scores and grades, offering insights into their personalities, experiences, goals, and motivations.

In a personal statement, applicants explain why they are interested in a specific field of study or profession, what they hope to achieve through the program, and how their background and experiences have prepared them for this path. It’s a chance to highlight unique attributes, significant life experiences, challenges overcome, or special achievements that make them an ideal candidate for the program.

Why Read Personal Statement Examples?

Reading personal statement essay examples is immensely beneficial for several reasons, especially when preparing your own statement for applications to nursing programs:

• Inspiration and Ideas: Examples can inspire you and provide ideas on structuring your statement, what kind of content to include in your application essay, and how to convey your story and passion effectively.
• Understanding Expectations: They offer insight into what admissions committees look for, helping you understand the level of detail, tone, and approach that resonates successfully in such applications.
• Learning from Others: Seeing how others have articulated their experiences, challenges, and aspirations can guide you in reflecting upon and articulating your own journey and motivations.
• Avoiding Common Mistakes: By examining a range of examples, you can identify common pitfalls and clichés to avoid, ensuring your statement stands out and feels genuine.
• Gaining Confidence: Reading successful common app essays can boost your confidence, showing you that crafting a compelling narrative that combines personal experiences with professional aspirations is possible.
• Diverse Perspectives: Examples offer a glimpse into the diversity of paths and motivations that lead people to nursing, potentially broadening your perspective and enriching your own approach to writing your statement.

How Long Should a Personal Statement Be?

The length of your personal statement should ideally align with the guidelines provided by the institution or program you are applying to. Personal statements are expected to be concise yet comprehensive, often ranging around 500 to 650 words , translating to about one to two pages. 

This word count allows enough space to clearly articulate your experiences, motivations, and aspirations without overloading the reader with information. It’s important to always adhere to the program’s specific word or character limits to demonstrate your ability to follow instructions and present your thoughts.

What Should a Personal Statement Include?

A well-written college admissions essay should include several key elements to effectively communicate your suitability for the program or position you are applying for. Here’s what to typically include:

Introduction

Your personal statement should begin with an engaging introductory paragraph that captures the essence of your motivation for pursuing your chosen field. This could be a brief narrative of a defining moment, an experience that ignited your passion, or a clear articulation of your interest and enthusiasm.

The introduction sets the tone and should intrigue the reader, providing a glimpse into your unique journey and motivation. It’s important that this section hooks the reader’s attention and provides a compelling reason to continue reading your statement.

Academic and Professional Background

In this section, brainstorm and detail your relevant academic and professional experiences that have prepared you for this next step. Highlight key academic achievements, coursework, research, or projects that align with the field you are pursuing.

Also, include any relevant work experience, internships, or positions that have given you practical skills and insights. This part of the statement is crucial for showcasing your foundational knowledge and preparedness for advanced study or professional development and gaining a scholarship in your chosen area.

Extracurricular Activities and Volunteering

Your involvement in extracurricular activities and volunteering can significantly enrich your personal statement. This section should reflect how these activities have contributed to your personal growth, skills development, or understanding of your field.

Whether it’s a hobby, leadership roles in clubs, participation in sports teams, or volunteer work in community organizations, these experiences demonstrate your broader interests, commitment, and ability to balance multiple responsibilities. It’s an opportunity to show aspects of your character and values that academic achievements alone might not convey.

Personal Qualities and Skills

Reflect on and draft the personal qualities and skills that make you suited for your chosen path. This might include traits like resilience, empathy, critical thinking, or effective communication. Use specific examples or experiences to demonstrate how you have developed and applied these traits.

This personal reflection not only provides depth to your statement but also gives the admissions committee a clearer picture of who you are as an individual, beyond academic and professional achievements.

Career Goals and Aspirations

Discuss your career aspirations and how the program or position you are applying for aligns with these goals. This section should convey a clear vision of where you see yourself in the future and how the specific program or role will be a stepping stone toward that vision.

It’s important to show that you have a direction and purpose and that you see this opportunity as integral to your career journey. This not only demonstrates foresight and planning but also shows your commitment and seriousness about the path you are choosing.

Reasons for Choosing the Specific Program or Institution

Clearly articulate why you are applying to this particular program or institution. Discuss what specific aspects of the program, faculty, institution’s philosophy, or opportunities available are particularly attractive to you and why they resonate with your goals and preferences.

This shows that you have done your research and are making a well-informed decision. It also indicates that you have a genuine interest in what the program or institution uniquely offers, rather than a generic application.

Conclude your statement with a strong, memorable closing that encapsulates your main points and reaffirms your enthusiasm and suitability for the program or career. This is your final opportunity to leave a lasting impression, summarizing why you believe you are an ideal candidate.

The conclusion should tie back to your opening, creating a cohesive narrative that leaves the reader with a clear understanding of your passion, commitment, and readiness for the next step in your academic or professional journey.

What Does an Admissions Officer Look for in a Personal Statement?

When reviewing a personal statement, admission officers are looking for several key elements to assess the suitability of a candidate for their program:

• Clarity of Purpose: Admissions officers want to see a clear understanding of why the applicant wants to pursue a particular field or program. The statement should convincingly articulate the candidate’s passion, motivation, and how the program aligns with their career goals.
• Personal Insight and Self-Reflection: A strong personal essay offers insight into the applicant’s personality, experiences, and the factors that have shaped their decision to pursue a specific path. Admissions officers look for depth of reflection and a sense of how past experiences have driven the candidate’s current ambitions.
• Relevant Experience and Skills: It’s important for the statement to highlight any relevant academic, professional, or volunteer experiences that demonstrate preparedness for the program. Admissions officers are interested in how these experiences have contributed to the development of skills and knowledge pertinent to the field.
• Writing Quality and Structure: The ability to communicate effectively and coherently through writing is crucial. Admissions officers pay attention to the overall quality of writing, including grammar, clarity, coherence, and the ability to organize thoughts logically.
• Individuality and Authenticity: They seek to understand what makes each applicant unique. A personal statement should reflect the individual’s authentic self, showcasing unique perspectives, diverse experiences, and personal growth.
• Commitment and Passion: Demonstrating genuine enthusiasm and a strong commitment to the field is essential. Admissions officers look for candidates who are likely to thrive in the program and contribute positively to their field.
• Alignment with Program Values and Goals: Candidates who show that their personal and professional values align with those of the program or institution often stand out. Admissions officers look for indications that the candidate has researched the program and understands how it fits into their broader aspirations.
• Future Potential: Finally, they are interested in the applicant’s potential for future success and contribution to the field. A compelling statement should give a sense of the candidate’s ambition to go to college and how they intend to utilize the education and opportunities provided by the program to achieve their long-term goals.

The Best Personal Statement Examples

Here are some examples that illustrate effective writing styles, clear articulation of goals, and the ability to connect personal experiences to broader career or academic aspirations:

Personal Statement Example #1 

Personal statement example #2, college essay example #3, personal statement example #4, application essay example #5, personal statement example #6, personal statement example #7, personal statement example #8, personal statement example #9, personal statement example #10, personal statement example #11, personal statement example #12, personal statement example #13, personal statement example #14, personal statement example #15, key takeaways for writing a great personal statement.

When reflecting on the nursing personal statement examples provided, several key takeaways emerge that are crucial for anyone crafting their statement. These insights are vital for effectively conveying your passion, commitment, and suitability for a career in nursing:

• Clearly articulate your personal motivation for choosing nursing.
• Highlight your relevant healthcare experiences and achievements.
• Specify your interest in any particular nursing specialty.
• Showcase qualities and skills that make you suitable for nursing.
• Outline your long-term professional aspirations in nursing.
• Acknowledge the challenges and rewards in the nursing profession.
• Express dedication to ongoing learning and professional development.
• Ensure clarity, structure, and coherence in your statement.
• Customize your statement for each specific nursing program.
• Maintain authenticity and genuineness throughout your statement.

Final Thoughts: Personal Statement Essay Examples

These nursing personal statement examples and key takeaways provide valuable insights for anyone aspiring to enter the nursing freshman year. They demonstrate the importance of a well-crafted statement that blends personal motivation, relevant experiences, and a clear understanding of the nursing profession’s demands and rewards. 

An effective personal statement is not only a reflection of your qualifications and aspirations but also a testament to your passion, empathy, and commitment to the field of nursing. It’s a unique opportunity to showcase your individuality and suitability for a career that is as challenging as it is rewarding. 

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NHS England. NHS long term workforce plan. 2023. https://tinyurl.com/muw8c9aw (accessed 3 October 2023)

Nursing and Midwifery Council. Standards of proficiency for nursing associates. 2018. https://tinyurl.com/45pc95ve (accessed 3 October 2023)

Creating an effective personal statement for RNAs

Director of Nurse Education, School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Roehampton

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Organisations are starting to redesign services to meet the changing health needs of the local community and align with the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan ( NHS England, 2023 ). These changes are creating new roles within a variety of settings, opening up the job market for the registered nursing associate (RNA). Applying for a new job can be a daunting and competitive process; standing out from the crowd is an essential criterion for success. When marketing yourself to potential employers, it is important to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and attributes they require, to convince them that you are the best person for the job.

Do your research

In the first instance when considering a new job, it is important to be sure it is what you want and where you want to work. If it is with a new employer, do your research: find out about its values and culture. As a health or social care provider, review its most recent Care Quality Commission report; review the latest news and developments shared on both its website and social media platforms. This will not only give an insight into it as a potential employer but also help with tailoring your personal statement and preparing for interview. More specifically, when considering the role, consider the job description and the person specification – is it clear what the role involves and what skills are required to undertake the role?

Adverts often include a contact person for an informal discussion; this is a great opportunity to interview them as a potential employer and get answers to questions about the organisation or the role. As an RNA, enquire about RNA roles in other departments and see how the role is being used across the organisation; it may even be possible to speak with an RNA already in post.

Applying for a role

The application form will consist of standard questions on previous employment and education. It is the personal statement section that provides the opportunity to showcase your skills and experience and to explain why you are the best candidate for the role. It is important to keep it concise and focused on the requirements of the role and to highlight how your skills and experience match these requirements.

Throughout the personal statement, reference should be made to the requirements of the job description and the personal specification. Take words and phrases from these to make it easier for the employer to see clearly how you are demonstrating the requirements of the role. Highlight your achievements and provide examples of how you have added value to previous roles. Use specific, measurable examples that demonstrate your skills and experience.

When looking to demonstrate performance in relation to professional practice, reflect on your previous studies, current and previous practice and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards of Proficiency for Nursing Associates ( NMC, 2018 ). By taking the time to reflect, you will naturally start to realise the skills and qualities you possess and identify examples that can be quoted to support a claim that you have the experience or skills required.

‘Examples of how you have used your teamwork and collaborative skills could include taking the lead in a project or activity, resolving conflicts, or encouraging others to achieve a common goal’

Demonstrate your skills

Some of the skills you will identify will be specific; for example, recording 12-lead ECGs if working in a cardiology department. However, other skills will be non-specific; these are equally important and often referred to as transferable skills.

Transferable skills are identified within the NMC standards for RNAs ( NMC, 2018 ) but can often be overlooked by people focusing on practical skills. The modern job market values individuals who can adapt to changing circumstances and continuously learn and develop. The journey from health or social care support worker to RNA will have supported this development. As an RNA, the journey through academia will have exposed you to various subjects, teaching methods, and learning environments, developing your ability to adapt and acquire transferable skills.

Whether through considering case studies, research projects or practical assignments, you will have encountered and resolved various challenges, therefore developing strong problem-solving abilities. Providing examples will demonstrate analytical thinking and the ability to consider creative solutions. These could include an instance where you identified a problem, developed a strategy, and implemented it effectively within your practice or your studies. Linked to this may be how you have honed your teamwork and collaborative skills through completing group projects on your academic journey.

Many job roles within health and social care require employees to work effectively in teams. Examples of how you have developed and used your teamwork and collaborative skills could include taking the lead in a project or activity, resolving conflicts, or encouraging others to achieve a common goal.

Demonstrating excellent organisational and time management skills will strengthen the examples of transferable skills already identified. During your studies, you would have balanced multiple assignments, exams, and extracurricular activities simultaneously. In addition, if you completed your Nursing Associate Foundation Degree as an apprentice you would have been working at the same time as studying. Ensure you identify instances where you have effectively managed your time and prioritised tasks to achieve desired outcomes. These examples will demonstrate your ability to meet deadlines and handle the demands of a professional role.

Underpinning all of this is demonstrating your ability to communicate effectively and professionally. Communication skills will clearly be shown through the personal statement, not only via the examples used for all the other transferable skills but also in the presentation of the personal statement. Ensure that what has been written is presented in a professional manner in the chosen writing style and terminology used, that there is clarity of thought and proofreading has been employed.

Submitting your application

The last stage in the application process is the submission of the application. Different organisations use different approaches to this, so ensure you have checked the closing date and time and that you have left yourself sufficient time to make the application. Make sure you keep a copy of what you have written; this will be useful when preparing for interview. Interviewers may want to explore the examples you have given with you, and it is helpful if you can remember what you wrote.

A strategic approach

Selling yourself via your application and, more specifically, your personal statement involves strategically highlighting the skills you have acquired through your academic and professional journey. Research the organisation and the role, communicate clearly, demonstrate problem-solving abilities, emphasise adaptability, showcase teamwork skills, discuss time management, and express your passion.

By effectively communicating how your values and skills align with the department's needs, you can leave a lasting impression and increase your chances of securing the job. Box 1 provides some top tips on writing your personal statement. Remember, an application is not just an assessment of your qualifications, it is also an opportunity to showcase your unique strengths and potential contribution.

Box 1.Personal statement top tips

• Tailor your personal statement to the job description
• Think about transferable skills, not just practical ones
• Use active words to give impact
• Give examples, not just sweeping statements
• Highlight positive things that only you can bring
• Proofread for errors, clarity and fluency

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Nursing Personal Statement Examples

What is a nursing personal statement?

Your nursing personal statement should tell the universities you are applying to all about your strengths and where you see yourself in the future as a nurse.

It should give nursing admissions tutors a good picture of who you are and why you would make a valuable candidate for their course.

If you are applying for a job as a nurse , it's possible you’ll need to provide a nursing personal statement for this, too.

To show that you’ve met the minimum requirements for promotion, you may need to write a band 6 or 7 nursing personal statement.

This piece of writing tells an employer all about your hands-on patient contact experience and why you are a good fit for the job.

How do I become a nurse?

Most people become a nurse by applying to study for a degree at university.

However, there are alternative routes available, such as Nursing Degree Apprenticeships , and starting out as an Associate Nurse .

You will also need to hold the correct entry requirements to secure a place on a degree course, and will also be expected to have some level of work experience.

Take a look at our blog post for more in-depth information on how to become a nurse .

How do I write a nursing personal statement for university?

If you're applying for a nursing degree to set youself on a nursing career path, we always recommend starting your personal statement by brainstorming ideas. Your notes should cover the following:

• achievements
• academic results
• part-time or Saturday jobs
• volunteering
• wider reading
• extracurricular activities

as well as anything else you can think of.

Take a look through our nursing personal statement examples above to give yourself an idea of what a successful nursing statement looks like.

Once you have put together an initial draft, it's a good idea to ask for feedback from family, friends and tutors. They will be able to look at your statement objectively and suggest ways it could be improved.

Incorporate their comments, and ask for further feedback. Don't worry if you have to do this three or four times - it's important you get your statement as perfect as possible before sending it off on your UCAS form.

How do I structure my nursing personal statement?

Your nursing personal statement should be structured with a clear beginning, middle and end, with the opening telling an anecdote or explaining why you are passionate about nursing.

The middle should generally focus on your work experience and current/past academic studies, and how these have helped you to develop skills that are useful and relevant to a career in nursing.

For example, you might talk about how your experience working in a care home helped you build and offer empathy to elderly people.

You should then write a memorable conclusion that mentions your plans for the future, and how you hope your nursing degree will help you achieve these.

What should I include in my nursing personal statement?

• Look at the content of the course and make sure your statement addresses the specific branch of nursing you are applying for, i.e. mental health , adult or child nursing . 
• Demonstrate important skillls that are required for a nursing degree , e.g. patience, empathy, teamwork and communication. Talk about how you have developed these, either at school/college, at your job or during hobbies or other activities.
• Most applicants spend the opening of their personal statement talking about why they want to study nursing , e.g. an unwell family member, or a friend who was in a car accident. Think carefully about whether there was one particular incident that sparked your interest in nursing.
• Don’t include any over-used phrases or quotes in your statement that university admissions tutors will have seen and heard before.
• Now is also not the time for jokes or humour - it often doesn't work well and admissions tutors might not be impressed!

For more help and advice on what to write in your nursing personal statement, please see:

• Personal Statement Editing Services
• Personal Statement Tips From A Teacher
• Analysis Of A Personal Statement
• The 15th January UCAS Deadline: 4 Ways To Avoid Missing It
• Personal Statement FAQs
• Personal Statement Timeline
• 10 Top Personal Statement Writing Tips
• What To Do If You Miss The 15th January UCAS Deadline.

How do I write an introduction to my nursing personal statement?

Like with any type of personal statement for university, we recommend you open with a paragraph on what you enjoy most about nursing, and why you want to study it at university. Again, an anecdote that inspired you to learn more about nursing will work well here, as long as you have a relevant story to tell.

For example, this applicant chose to talk about how their mother's illness inspired them to go into nursing:

"There has been many occasions during my life that I have spent hours sitting at a hospital bedside.

My mother battled a long term illness and as I sat with her trying to keep her spirits up, the Nurses who cared for her always drew my admiration. I feel there are a handful of truly inspirational professions and Nursing is without doubt one of them.

Along with doctors and other medical staff, nurses provide an invaluable service to society and to be part of that group has long been an ambition of mine."

Another applicant chose to talk about how their experience with mental health services as a teenager made them want to help others and make a difference in the world as an adult:

"I have wanted to work in Mental Health since I was 15 years old. When in crisis, I received a level of care which changed my life and I aspire to do the same for others. I also received care that was detrimental at times so I want to be a part of making a difference. I have seen a wide range of nursing approaches and I have learnt so much from my colleagues since working within the NHS, I now know what kind of nurse I want to be when I complete my training."

However you choose to open your nursing personal statement, make sure it's engaging and explains why you want to pursue nursing at degree level. You can see more examples of introductions over at our nursing personal statements section.

How do I write a conclusion for my nursing personal statement?

Try to round off your nursing personal statement with something memorable. This often includes talking about your extracurricular activities, hobbies and/or your ambitions for the future. For example:

" I am confident in my ability to communicate with people from any cultural background and an example of this would be during my time volunteering in a dog sanctuary in Paraguay. This was difficult due to the language barrier, and a virus outbreak between the dogs. I had to organize my time efficiently, an important skill for a nurse, communicate with vets and host families, in often very distressing times.

I acted effectively, thinking on my feet, all whilst remaining calm and treating the animals with compassion. This was a very challenging time for me but it was also very rewarding. I feel a career as a nurse, whilst challenging at times would also be very rewarding, educational, and encourage personal growth."

This applicant demonstrates that as well as communicating what you do currently, or have done in the past, it's also a good idea to try to include how these experiences have helped to shape you as a person, and how they make you a better candidate for a nursing course.

For more inspiration on how to write your conclusion, please see our nursing personal statement examples section.

Further information

• UCAS Nursing Advice
• Indeed.com - How To Write A Nursing Personal Statement
• Nursing Times - How To Write An Effective Personal Statement
• University of Cumbria - How To Write A Good Nursing Personal Statement For University
• Nurses.co.uk - How To Write A Personal Statement For A Nursing Course
• University of South Wales - How To Write A Personal Statement For Nursing & Midwifery

Related resources

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Sample Supporting Statements

For Students and Newly Registered Nurses, Nursing Support Workers, and Nurses and Midwives.

The supporting statement is the most important part of your job application. This is effectively where you convince the employer that you're the right person for the job and explain why they should hire you.

This page offers sample supporting statements and a tutorial to help you. we can also offer feedback on your supporting statement via email..

Different employers will have different instructions or expectations with regards to supporting statements, but generally they'll be looking to see if you're applying for the right reasons and that you meet the essential criteria. If you haven't already done so, read the general advice on writing job applications first. To help give you an idea, have a look at our sample supporting statements which have been written to correlate to a sample Person Specification. In particular, pay attention to the way the sample supporting statements:

• Cover all the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification
• Use examples or evidence to demonstrate how the criteria is met
• Follow the order of the Person Specification as much as possible.

The samples should be used as a guide only. Your own supporting statement should be structured around the job and person specification you're applying for. You may also want to watch the Supporting Statements tutorial below.

• Apply for jobs that are right for you
• Never write a 'one size fits all' supporting statement
• Explain why you want the job, showing your passion/interest and motivation
• Demonstrate how you meet all the essential criteria from the person specification using examples or evidence
• Demonstrate how you meet any organisational/trust values if there are any
• Imagine you're being asked the question, "Why should we hire you?"
• Run a spelling and grammar check

Supporting Statement Tutorial Preview

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