July 2004
At their July 2004 meeting, the NLNAC Board of Commissioners voted to endorse the Statement on Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education. This means that that your advanced practice nursing options can and will continue to be accredited by NLNAC. If your Master’s degree program is accredited by NLNAC all advanced practice options, whether nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist, are included in the accreditation.
If
you offer a clinical nurse specialist option accredited by NLNAC, please be
aware that:
If your Master’s degree program follows The Statement for your clinical nurse specialist option you address The Statement in your self study document, and program evaluators also review evidence of compliance with The Statement as part of the site visit. We continue to include an advanced practice nurse as part of the evaluation team for your Master’s program if it includes preparation for advanced practice.
NLNAC recently met with representatives from NACNS to discuss how the NLNAC accreditation process already addresses quality in clinical nurse specialist options, and how we can move forward to assure that all clinical nurse specialist students continue to be prepared not only for certification, but also to provide patient care of the highest quality.
We will continue to work with you, your faculty, and representatives from NACNS and other advanced practice nursing organizations so that together we can prepare your students for their role as advanced practice nurses.