Phase 1: Creating an Interview Guide Assignment
In this Clinical Practice Experience (CPE), I managed to consult with our chief nursing officer (CNO). In some health organizations, these nurse executives are also called chief nurse executives (CNO). My healthcare organization has various nurses of various cadres, experience, and subdisciplines. I collaborated with the executive at the top of the hierarchy for nursing care management. Before the interview, my first task was to research the roles and responsibilities of this executive. The summary table below presents pieces of evidence from the top 5 sources that I reviewed in the process on the roles and responsibilities of a chief nursing officer Phase 1: Creating an Interview Guide Assignment
Sources Table
| Source (Full APA reference) | Summary |
| Albert, D., Gruebling, N., Nuss, S. L., O’Shaughnessy, K., & Patton, H. P. (2021). The power in coming together. Nurse Leader, 19(6), 581–584. DOI link | This source is a journal article from a qualitative study by Albert et al. (2021) that assessed the experiences of CNO by interviewing three CNO during the COVID-19 pandemic era. During the peak of the pandemic, nursing administrators were looked upon for crucial decision-making regarding practice. The roles o CNO were put to test. In this source, nursing management communication and collaboration at the topmost nursing management hierarchy were reported. CNO from their different healthcare organizations is tasked with the responsibility of building trusting relationships between healthcare organizations to enhance inter-organizational collaboration. This collaboration is essential in learning, knowledge sharing, and evidence-based practice for nurses in their respective organizations |
| Barnsteiner, J., & Disch, J. (2018). Role of the chief nurse officer in ensuring person- and family-centered care. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 42(3), 284–290. DOI Link Phase 1: Creating an Interview Guide Assignment | This journal article is explaining the role of CNO in patient and family-centered care (PFCC). PFCC is seen as an organizational initiative and CNO being the topmost nursing executive has the responsibility to initiate PFCC in the health organization. Because of their position in the organizational leadership, CNOs assume the role of PFCC coordination and organize appropriate efforts to trickle down the culture of PFCC to enhance nursing care quality. Specifically, CNOs organize and update organization documents and information regarding PFCC, schedule educational sessions with nurses, engage patients and their families in culturally sensitive care, establish communication feedback loops regularly, identify nurse leaders that can steer these initiatives, and secure organizational top executive support for this initiative |
| RegisteredNursing.org Staff Writers. (2019, July 26). Chief Nursing Officer. Registerednursing.org; RegisteredNursing.org. source URL | This resource is from a website by registerednursing.org. Registerednursing.org is a corporate organizational website that aims at informing and educating nurses about legal aspects, ethical aspects, and the scope of practice. This website succinctly lists 12 roles and duties of a CNO in nursing and healthcare practice. CNOs foster collaboration by enhancing a favorable environment, upholding nursing standards and compliance with healthcare policies and approvals, developing strategic plans in collaboration with senior organizational administrators and medical staff, and ensuring functioning relationships between various departments. They also ensure the organization’s mission, vision, and values are upheld by nursing practice, initiate and maintain quality assessment & improvement projects and programs, facilitate professional and educational advancements for nurses, oversee performance improvement projects, and ensure the best nurse-patient services. |
| Ingwell-Spolan, C. (2018). Chief Nursing Officers’ views on meeting the needs of the professional nurse: How this can affect patient outcomes. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 6(2). DOI Link | This source is a journal article from a study by Ingwell-Spolan in 2018 conducted in Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. According to this qualitative study, CNOs’ roles are complex but aimed at patient-centered care through the coordination of roles of other nurses. CNOs offer nursing leadership, financial management, and infrastructural support to other nurses to enable them to meet patient care needs. CNOs have a responsibility in improving patient care outcomes and reducing their hospital stays by striving to reduce patient acuity, manage nurses’ workload, ensure nurse collaboration, and encourage nurses’ decision-making & autonomy. |
| Persolja, M., Marin, M., Caporale, L., Odasmini, B., Scarsini, S., Fiorella, V., De Lucia, P., & Palese, A. (2020). Chief Nurse Executives involuntary turnover in times of health care reforms: Findings from an interpretative phenomenology study. Health Services Management Research, 33(4), 172–185. DOI Link | This source sought to find out the reasons for involuntary turnover for CNEs through an interpretative phenomenology study. In their literature review, key roles and responsibilities of CNEs are mentioned. CNEs have high managerial responsibilities in organizational administration. These responsibilities and roles include but are not limited to developing a professional environment, designing and leading projects, and mediating between professional nursing goals. Developing a professional environment includes integrating the organization’s mission, vision, values, and trust philosophy in nursing practice. Projects initiated and led by CNEs involve improving patient experience, safety, and thus quality. Keeping the organization’s focus on nursing goals promotes efficiency, effectiveness, and management. CNEs require adequate educational, professional, leadership, managerial, and clinical experience, knowledge, and skills to achieve the best outcomes in achieving their responsibilities and roles.Phase 1: Creating an Interview Guide Assignment |
Conclusion
The salient points from this summary confirm that CNO roles and responsibilities are more managerial than clinical. In most settings director of the nursing answer to the CNO who answer to the top executives in the healthcare organization. The welfare of the nurses and patients is in the CNO’s hands. The quality of care through nursing can be greatly influenced by this office.
References
Albert, D., Gruebling, N., Nuss, S. L., O’Shaughnessy, K., & Patton, H. P. (2021). The power in coming together. Nurse Leader, 19(6), 581–584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2021.08.010
Barnsteiner, J., & Disch, J. (2018). Role of the chief nurse officer in ensuring person- and family-centered care. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 42(3), 284–290. https://doi.org/10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000294
Ingwell-Spolan, C. (2018). Chief Nursing Officers’ views on meeting the needs of the professional nurse: How this can affect patient outcomes. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 6(2), 56. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6020056
Persolja, M., Marin, M., Caporale, L., Odasmini, B., Scarsini, S., Fiorella, V., De Lucia, P., & Palese, A. (2020). Chief Nurse Executives involuntary turnover in times of health care reforms: Findings from an interpretative phenomenology study. Health Services Management Research, 33(4), 172–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951484820923923
RegisteredNursing.org Staff Writers. (2019, July 26). Chief Nursing Officer. Registerednursing.org; RegisteredNursing.org. https://www.registerednursing.org/specialty/chief-nursing-officer/ Phase 1: Creating an Interview Guide Assignment
