Clinical Nurse Leader role

[PITT_RN_ZP]

Hello all,

I am a current CNL student at the University of Pittsburgh. I will be graduating in August with my MSN-CNL degree. I am beginning to look for jobs, and am currently facing questions of what exactly is a CNL job?

I've noticed many jobs for unit directors, clinicians (assistant unit directors), nurse educators, ect. have the educational requirement of "MSN or CNL preferred." If you go to school to be a FNP, you get a FNP job. If you go to school for nursing administration, you get a job in administration.

My question is, what are my role expectations of a clinical nurse leader after obtainment of my degree? What types of jobs are in my range and what are not? What are my limitations? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Zach Perpetua, BSN RN CMSRN

MSN-CNL student

[elkpark]

Did you not research this before you started the degree? What is the school telling you about possible professional jobs and roles? What were you expecting when you started the degree? How did you decide that this was the MSN concentration you wanted?

Part of the issue with the CNL degrees is that this is a role invented by academia. There was no great outcry from the clinical world about a need for a graduate-degreed generalist nurse at the bedside. The VA has embraced the idea, and committed to having a CNL on every unit of every VA hospital, but they have not gotten a lot of traction in the rest of healthcare. A lot of medical centers attached to universities that offer the CNL degree are using them to some extent. A lot of what CNLs are supposedly prepared to do used to be done by CNSs (plus more), and most healthcare employers have been getting rid of their CNS positions for years now.

It looks, from your credentials, like you are an experienced RN who has returned to school, so that will give you an advantage in job-hunting over the direct-entry CNL graduates (with no prior nursing licensure or experience).

Welcome to allnurses -- best wishes for your journey!

[PITT_RN_ZP]

Thank you for your input! I did research this degree at length before enrolling in the program. I became interested in the degree because it seems to have a wide range of options for jobs, whereas other nursing graduate degrees can be more limited. I am more or less curious as to what others perceive as "the right CNL job" because there seem to be so many options out there!