Mennonite Offers Clinical Nurse Leader Sequence

Date: 2/5/07
Contact: Eric Jome

With an eye toward meeting the changing needs of the healthcare field, Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University will offer the graduate level clinical nurse leader (CNL) sequence starting in Fall 2007. The clinical nurse leader is a registered nurse with the advanced skills and research knowledge to improve patient care and safety in today’s increasingly complex healthcare environment.

Mennonite College of Nursing is one of a growing number of nursing schools in the country offering programs to prepare clinical nurse leaders. The CNL role was developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in collaboration with partners in education and healthcare practice. With today’s healthcare environment becoming increasingly more complex, well-coordinated patient care and increased monitoring of patient outcomes has become critical.

The role of the CNL addresses the need for nurses with advanced skills and research knowledge who can provide high quality patient care and improve patient safety. A CNL functions as a member of a multidisciplinary team, assisting other healthcare providers in delivering research-based care.

The CNL sequence offered by Mennonite is a collaborative effort with BroMenn Regional Medical Center in Normal and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington. The first cohort of students in the CNL sequence will be nurses from those two partner institutions, which have committed to hiring CNL graduates from Mennonite.

“As the healthcare environment becomes increasingly complex, healthcare systems are piloting innovative care delivery models to assure safe, high quality care for all patients,” said Brenda Recchia Jeffers, associate professor and director of the graduate program at Mennonite. “We are delighted to be working with our partner institutions to offer the clinical nurse leader sequence. The clinical nurse leader provides evidence-based patient care, continuity of care, and optimizes existing staff’s ability to provide high quality care in a cost efficient manner.”

“OSF St. Joseph Medical Center has been involved with Mennonite in the exploration and development of a clinical nurse leader program since the concept emerged in 2004,” said Deborah Smith, assistant administrator, patient services, chief nurse executive at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center. “The clinical nurse leader role will support the patient, the nurse, and other healthcare clinicians as the plan of care for our patients becomes increasingly complex.”

“The clinical nurse leader is an exciting new role for nursing that will positively impact our patients and our nursing staff,” said Lori Harper, director of nursing practice for BroMenn Healthcare.