Foundations of Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice (Paperback)

Prepare CNSs to lead care, demonstrate value, and improve outcomes across complex healthcare systems 

Essential for students, new CNSs, and practicing clinical nurse specialists, this updated text delivers practical guidance for CNS role development, evidence-informed decision-making, quality improvement, care delivery, and systems leadership. With actionable tools, updated competencies, and career-focused strategies, the Fourth Edition supports CNSs as they lead change, strengthen clinical influence, and advance outcomes across care, organizations, and professional practice. 

For the new CNS, chapters address credentialing, navigating a first job, managing expectations in an unstructured role, and obtaining third-party reimbursement. For CNSs expanding beyond traditional practice roles, the text includes entrepreneurship, business planning, and marketing clinical innovations, along with system-level content on high-reliability organizations, big data, quality improvement, and program evaluation.Purchase includes online access via most mobile devices or computers.

What’s New: 

• Expanded history of the CNS role emphasizes historical knowledge as a foundation for shaping future practice 

• Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice Value Model links CNS practice to outcomes and supports documentation of clinical and economic value 

• Updated healthcare initiatives include transitions of care, telehealth, social determinants of health, patient safety, Magnet recognition, community engagement, and scholarly dissemination 

• Updated chapters offer new insights into teaching, mentoring, precepting, conducting research, and leading nursing and interprofessional teams 

• Expanded global and international perspectives support CNS practice across diverse healthcare settings 

Key Features: 

• Comprehensive coverage of CNS roles, client care, systems leadership, quality, and global practice 

• Practical guidance for strengthening clinical influence, improving outcomes, leading change, and applying best practices 

• Career-focused content on credentialing, role development, reimbursement, entrepreneurship, and innovation 

• Case-based content and practical applications that reinforce applied CNS skills 

• Renowned expert editors with national leadership, research expertise, and decades of CNS education and practice experience 

Janet S. Fulton, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, ANEF, FCNS, FAAN, is the Centennial Endowed Professor in Innovation in Nursing Education Emerita at Indiana University School of Nursing and editor-in-chief for Clinical Nurse Specialist: The Journal of Advanced Nursing Practice. She served nationally as president of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) and coordinator of the Oncology Nursing Society’s CNS Special Interest Group. She designed an innovative distance accessible CNS program, Learn Where You Live; received teaching awards from Indiana University, The Ohio State University Alumni Association, and NACNS; and received leadership awards from NACNS and Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Chapter. She is also a recipient of the prestigious NACNS President’s Award and was recognized as a Top 100 graduate by The Ohio State University on occasion of the School of Nursing’s 100th Anniversary. She is an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)-certified Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist and holds fellowships in the National League for Nursing’s Academy of Nurse Educators, the Clinical Nurse Specialist Institute, and the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Fulton has written in multiple publications including articles, books, chapters and editorials.  

Kelly A. Goudreau, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FCNS, FAAN, is a faculty member at North Island College and the University of Victoria in British Columbia. She is an associate editor for the Canadian Journal of Nursing Research and a past president of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS). She is licensed as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in Oregon and is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a CNS in adult health. Dr. Goudreau is a recipient of the Brenda Lyon Leadership Award and the President’s Award from NACNS and is a Fellow of the Clinical Nurse Specialist Institute and the American Academy of Nursing. She has published more than 30 journal articles and is the coeditor of two books. Dr. Goudreau holds a Baccalaureate in Nursing from the University of British Columbia in Canada, a master’s in nursing from Washington State University, and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Kristen L. Swartzell, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, CNE is a clinical assistant professor at Purdue University School of Nursing, West Lafayette, Indiana. Kristen has substantial clinical experience in orthopedics, surgical trauma, and wound and ostomy care, as well as hospital leadership. Her research and publications address health policy and caregiving.  She is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as an adult health CNS and by the National League for Nursing (NLN) as a nurse educator.