Combining the roles of clinical nurse specialist and neonatal nurse practitioner: the experience in one academic tertiary care setting.

The roles of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) have originated and evolved to meet specific needs in the nursing and medical community. The CNS role was developed in response to the perception that patient care needed to be improved; the NNP role resulted from an acute shortage of physicians to provide neonatal medical management. While on the surface these two roles may appear to be vastly different, many facets of each may be effectively interfaced. The NNP-CNS practice at Doernbecher Neonatal Care Center is an example of successful convergence of the two roles. The implementation of the combined practice is described in this article.