Blending the clinical nurse specialist functions and quality improvement leadership: a partnership in care.

Blending the clinical nurse specialist functions and quality improvement leadership has resulted in a number of positive outcomes including ongoing communication with and education of nursing staff, continuous holistic assessment of care, enhanced clinical judgment and practice, theory-generated interventions, validation of nurses' role in health promotion incorporation of research into practice, and team building. It has also generated a positive regard for the value of the advanced level practitioner, represented a cost-effective approach, empowered other nurses to utilize their knowledge in developing a nursing plan of care, and developed nurses' ability to articulate their role, which for most has become the hallmark of quality care.