Nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists: are the roles merging?

Although the origins of clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) are different, some nurse educators believe that the roles of these advanced specialists should merge, while others believe that, from a philosophical point of view the roles are distinct, and should be kept separate. In order to throw light on this controversy, CNS and NP alumnae from a Master of Science program in upper New York State were surveyed. Graduates of the past 10 years were asked about their current role functioning, satisfaction with their work and career choice, and opinions about a number of professional issues, including the merging of NP and CNS preparation. The most impressive finding was the overlapping functions and opinions of the graduates actually involved in the clinical role. Although differences in traditional areas associated with the two groups were noted, they were not nearly as large as the literature suggest. The majority of the graduates supported the merging of the two roles. Such a merger has advantages for both types of specialists, nursing school curriculums, the health care system, and ultimatley the consumer.