| Summary: | A lack of clarity concerning a description of the role of the clinical nurse specialist in Canadian nursing was the problem addressed in this thesis. A role enactment view of role theory and reported research findings about what clinical nurse specialists actually do (Aradine and Denyes, 1972) were utilized as a framework for study. A questionnaire was developed and a mail survey was conducted with a self-identified group of 147 clinical nurse specialists in British Columbia. Both descriptive analysis and analyses of relationships among variables were carried out. Generally speaking it was found that: (1) there is still a lack of clarity about the role in British Columbia, (2) the primary means by which an individual nurse becomes a clinical nurse specialist in British Columbia is through experience in the system, (3) a description of the role articulated in American nursing literature by Aradine and Denyes (1972) does not fit the description reported by the subjects, and (4) statistically significant relationships exist among some of the variables examined and estimates of weekly work time reported by the subjects. The findings suggest there is a need for nursing leaders in the areas of education and service to work together on issues concerning the role of the clinical nurse specialist in Canada. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Nursing, School of === Graduate
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