Marking out the clinical expert/clinical leader/clinical scholar: Perspectives from nurses in the clinical arena

Mannix, J; Wilkes, L; Jackson, D

Marking out the clinical expert/clinical leader/clinical scholar: Perspectives from nurses in the clinical arena

Mannix, J Wilkes, L Jackson, D

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: BMC Nursing, 2013, 12 (1)
Issue Date:: 2013-04-15

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Mannix, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wilkes, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Jackson, D https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5252-5325	en_US
dc.date.available	2013-04-05	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-04-15	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	BMC Nursing, 2013, 12 (1)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/23662
dc.description.abstract	Background: Clinical scholarship has been conceptualised and theorised in the nursing literature for over 30 years but no research has captured nurses' clinicians' views on how it differs or is the same as clinical expertise and clinical leadership. The aim of this study was to determine clinical nurses' understanding of the differences and similarities between the clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar.Methods: A descriptive interpretative qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with 18 practising nurses from Australia, Canada and England. The audio-taped interviews were transcribed and the text coded for emerging themes. The themes were sorted into categories of clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholarship as described by the participants. These themes were then compared and contrasted and the essential elements that characterise the nursing roles of the clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar were identified.Results: Clinical experts were seen as linking knowledge to practice with some displaying clinical leadership and scholarship. Clinical leadership is seen as a positional construct with a management emphasis. For the clinical scholar they linked theory and practice and encouraged research and dissemination of knowledge.Conclusion: There are distinct markers for the roles of clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar. Nurses working in one or more of these roles need to work together to improve patient care. An 'ideal nurse' may be a blending of all three constructs. As nursing is a practice discipline its scholarship should be predominantly based on clinical scholarship. Nurses need to be encouraged to go beyond their roles as clinical leaders and experts to use their position to challenge and change through the propagation of knowledge to their community. © 2013 Mannix et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	BMC Nursing	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1186/1472-6955-12-12	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Nursing	en_US
dc.title	Marking out the clinical expert/clinical leader/clinical scholar: Perspectives from nurses in the clinical arena	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	12	en_US
utslib.for	1110 Nursing	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Nursing
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	12	en_US

Abstract:

Background: Clinical scholarship has been conceptualised and theorised in the nursing literature for over 30 years but no research has captured nurses' clinicians' views on how it differs or is the same as clinical expertise and clinical leadership. The aim of this study was to determine clinical nurses' understanding of the differences and similarities between the clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar.Methods: A descriptive interpretative qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with 18 practising nurses from Australia, Canada and England. The audio-taped interviews were transcribed and the text coded for emerging themes. The themes were sorted into categories of clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholarship as described by the participants. These themes were then compared and contrasted and the essential elements that characterise the nursing roles of the clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar were identified.Results: Clinical experts were seen as linking knowledge to practice with some displaying clinical leadership and scholarship. Clinical leadership is seen as a positional construct with a management emphasis. For the clinical scholar they linked theory and practice and encouraged research and dissemination of knowledge.Conclusion: There are distinct markers for the roles of clinical expert, clinical leader and clinical scholar. Nurses working in one or more of these roles need to work together to improve patient care. An 'ideal nurse' may be a blending of all three constructs. As nursing is a practice discipline its scholarship should be predominantly based on clinical scholarship. Nurses need to be encouraged to go beyond their roles as clinical leaders and experts to use their position to challenge and change through the propagation of knowledge to their community. © 2013 Mannix et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/23662