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The Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) is a master's prepared nurse envisioned to provide clinical leadership at the microsystem level to ensure safe, high quality patient-centered care. The American Association of Colleges of Nurses defined ten 'fundamental aspects' of CNL practice, but as the certified CNL population grows, data suggest they are filling a variety of positions besides formally designated CNL roles. This article reports the results of a systematic review of CNL literature to better understand what roles and activities certified CNLs are enacting when not hired into formally designated CNL roles. Sixty-nine articles met inclusion criteria. Roles identified include: faculty, 62%; clinical management/executive, 12%; specialty clinician, 11%; and staff nurse, 9%. In these roles, certified CNLs are reviewing literature, conducting research, and/or writing commentaries on CNL education and practice and other health foci such as alarm fatigue, insulin practices, and physical exercise for cancer-related fatigue. Results indicate that despite a lack of formal tracking of certified CNLs over time, the available information identifies a variety of roles and job titles used by this group of professional nurses. The study findings add to the body of knowledge informing overall understanding of the CNL initiative.

The clinical nurse leader (CNL) is a relatively new nursing role, introduced in 2003 through the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). A narrative review of the extant CNL literature was conducted with the aim of comprehensively summarizing the broad and methodologically diverse CNL evidence base. The review included 25 implementation reports, 1 CNL job analysis, 7 qualitative and/or survey studies, and 3 quantitative studies. All CNL implementation reports and studies described improved care quality outcomes after introduction of the role into a care delivery microsystem. Despite preliminary evidence supporting the CNL as an innovative new nursing role capable of consistently improving care quality wherever it is implemented, CNLs are still struggling to define the role to themselves and to the health care spectrum at large. Although the AACN CNL White Paper provides a concise model for CNL educational curriculum and end competencies, there is a compelling need for further research to substantively delineate the CNL role in practice, define care delivery structures and processes that influence CNL integration, and develop indicators capable of capturing CNL-specific contributions to improved care quality.