Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist Job Description, Duties, and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the pediatric clinical nurse specialist job description, including key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.

It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the pediatric clinical nurse specialist role by most recruiters/employers.

What Does a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist Do?

The pediatric clinical nurse specialist has clinical expertise from experience and competencies within the pediatric specialty of nursing practice.

Their guidance is used to address issues related to patient care, nursing practice, and the organizational spheres. They work majorly in hospitals and clinics.

Their essential roles as expert clinician, interdisciplinary consultant, educator, researcher, and leader help to direct specialty knowledge and skill acquisition, shape core competencies of clinical practice, promote evidence-based outcome-guided nursing care, and integrate quality patient care across CMC practice sites.

They promote an environment of mentoring and system change that empower the nurse to experience professional growth and development.

They are an active participant in the collaborative practice framework. They demonstrate leadership through involvement in committees and/or team projects, and they actively seek to improve the practice of nursing and patient outcomes.

The pediatric clinical nurse specialist job description entails providing and integrating clinical leadership for a designated population based on a specialized knowledge base.

They participate in the design, implementation, and evaluation of practice standards that improve the delivery of high quality, comprehensive, and individualized patient centered care.

They apply the traditional components of patient care, consultation, research utilization and education with the aim of upholding the philosophy and goals of the institution they represent, department of nursing, and the clinical service.

As specialist, they play an organizational role: implement practice initiatives and uphold practice standards.

They support and interpret the mission, philosophy, standards, goals, and objectives of the institution and department they represent.

They promote customer satisfaction of patients, physicians, and other consumers by facilitating excellent customer service by all members of the health care team.

They serve as a role model for staff taking into consideration the needs and behaviors of specific patient age groups, and assure compliance with standards and regulations promulgated by all applicable agencies.

The pediatric clinical nurse specialist work description also involves ensuring optimal availability of resources for safe, competent, and effective patient care delivery by providing a suitable plan.

They create unit milieu supportive of the education and development of the nursing staff and other health care providers consistent with the goals of a learning organization.

They identify and address learning needs of professional and ancillary staff members, and utilize resources to plan and meet unit and individual staff learning needs.

Their duties also entails evaluating the effectiveness of education and development activities in achieving desired outcomes.

They provide support and resource for the education of other health professionals.

To work as a pediatric clinical specialist, you must have years of nursing experience in pediatric services and education in the pediatrics specialty.

You must be a Registered Nurse with a minimum of Master’s degree in Nursing, and must also be willing to complete a post Master’s CNS certification program.

In addition to education, training and job knowledge that a clinical specialist requires toward the achievement of specific outcomes in an organized fashion, which addresses patient/family satisfaction; they also need excellent interpersonal skills, effective communication skills, creative problem solving, leadership, and teamwork abilities, and coaching skills to succeed on the job.

Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist Job Description Example/Sample/Template

The specialist clinician uses expertise as a clinician, educator, consultant, and researcher to influence outcomes by increasing the quality and cost-effectiveness of outcomes for patients, nurses, and the organization they serve.

The major tasks, duties, and responsibilities performed by a pediatric clinical nurse specialist are listed in the sample job description below:

• Provide leadership or support in research and quality improvement processes consistent with departmental programs
• Provide assistance in advancing nursing practice and improving patient outcomes
• Oversee clinical integration in regards to Peri-operative Services
• Coordinate patient-care for high risk patients
• Act as an expert for patients, guardians/family, nursing personnel, and organizational systems
• Provide clinical leadership in assessing, implementing, and evaluating the patient- care services rendered to patients and their significant others in accordance with professional and departmental standards
• Serve as a professional role model to all levels of staff by incorporating expertise and related experience into all aspects of patient care and the nursing process
• Facilitate a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to achieve optimal patient outcomes
• Develop, foster, and effect the implementation of process standards for the delivery of patient care relevant to area of practice
• Foster ongoing patient/significant other education aimed at facilitating effective clinical management across the continuum of care consistent with the individual needs of the patients and goals of the institution they serve
• Develop system for identifying, tracking, and managing patients in a designated population or service.
• Support the development of systems for collecting and analyzing data relevant to program evaluation
• Monitor practice patterns for trends in outcomes, costs, and resource utilization for the designated pediatric population
• Provide leadership or support for quality and performance improvement initiatives that aligns with departmental programs
• Develop and promulgate action plans in response to problems, incidents, complaints, as well as internal/ external benchmarking data
• Cultivate an environment that promotes patient/significant others, physician, and staff satisfaction
• Implement research findings that support the development of evidence-based practice
• Take active part in and promotes staff involvement in nursing research efforts.

Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist Requirements – Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for a Successful Career

To be able to perform the obligations, responsibilities, purpose, and objectives of a pediatric clinical nurse specialist excellently, you need to possess certain qualities, including knowledge, abilities, and skills.

For that reason, employers typically expect applicants for the role of a pediatric clinical nurse specialist to meet certain requirements to be considered for the job, which include:

• Education and training: A minimum of Master’s degree in Nursing and certification from a CNS program (or willingness to complete the program within a year of hire) accredited by the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC), or accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). However, a Doctoral degree in Nursing is preferred
• Experience: 4-5 years nursing experience in the area of pediatrics services
• Licenses/Certifications: Candidates should posses an Active Registered Nurse license, current Clinical Nurse Specialist license, and a current BLS certification. However, National certification as Clinical Nurse Specialist in area of pediatrics specialty is sometimes preferred
• Coaching skills: Pediatrics clinical nurse specialists require coaching skill to be able to facilitate a group or provide education to patients and significant others to facilitate effective clinical management
• Apt for learning: The clinical specialist must strive to promote own professional growth, development, and expertise in the role
• Interpersonal skills: Their job requires them to relate with patients, physicians, nurses, and a significant other. They require this skill to build rapport and relationships that can influence desired outcomes, as well as serve as consultant to all levels of staff
• Communication skills: The Pediatric clinical nurse specialist functions as a clinician as well as an educator; hence they require effective verbal and clear writing skills to succeed on the job.

Conclusion

To hire a pediatric clinical nurse specialist, recruiters or HR Managers need to publish the job description for qualified and interested people to respond to.

If you are hiring for a vacant pediatric clinical nurse specialist position in your organization, feel free to create the description of the role from the comprehensive example published in this post.

With the detailed information provided on duties, skills, responsibilities, and requirements for a pediatric clinical nurse specialist in this article, employers are sure to be able to make a great work description for the position that will attract the best qualified and competent candidates to their offer.

This post is also a detailed and complete guide for people considering a career as pediatric clinical nurse specialist to improve their knowledge of the job; the requirements they need to meet to be hired and to succeed on the job.

Did this post help you learn more about what pediatric clinical nurse specialists do? Please, make a comment in the box below. And if you work as a clinical nurse specialist in the pediatric field, do also share your job description.