Development of a Clinical Nurse Specialist Internship to Promote Evidence-Based Practice and Improve Outcomes

Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) are pivotal members of the health care team who drive quality outcomes and best practices. Unfortunately, many organizations have vacant CNS positions due to a nationwide CNS shortage. The CNS Academy is a novel internship program launched at a large health care system to recruit nurses to pursue CNS education while providing hands-on experience as a CNS intern. This “grow your own” approach provides on-the-job opportunities to gain CNS competencies and ease role transition upon graduation. Patient, nurse, and system-level outcomes will be monitored to demonstrate the financial impact of adding CNS positions to the organization.