Developing Countries, 14(1), 1-20. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9621-3486
| Clinical Nurse Specialist | Nurse Practitioner | Observations (Similarities/Differences) | |
| Ethics | Clinical nurse specialist are required to observe ethical principles when dealing with patients. Indeed, they are required to act as advocates of patients and protect them even as they offer their services (DeNisco & Baker, 2016).
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The ethical perspective of nurse practitioners is one that can be described as unique due to the expanded practice of these professionals. They act in many ways that are indicative of tough decisions. Thus, their ethical decision-making balances the principles of legalities and morals in analysis and in most cases need moral courage. Thus, while making decisions, nurse practitioners strive to preserve moral courage and prevent moral distress normally correlated with controversial situations. | The ethical comparison of the two areas reveal certain similarities and differences. Both nurses are faced with untenable situations when presented with an ethical decision. However, whereas nurse practitioners strive to reduce moral distress, clinical nurse specialists are expected to protect the patient in those decisions. |
| Education | The educational requirement for nurse specialists is a minimum of MSN.
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Concerning nurse practitioners, the educational requirement entails a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) as a minimum qualification. In future, a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) may become necessary | Thus, the MSN degree requirement is common to the two areas. Nevertheless, nurse practitioners may be required to advance their education. |
| Leadership | The Institute of Medicine report recommended that clinical nurse specialists should assume leadership roles and guide personnel and the entire health care system so as to improve patient outcomes (Porter-O’Grady, & Malloch, 2016). The reason for this is that they work in systems, influence them, collaborate with personnel and thus have the capacity to reach relatively more patients so as to introduce improvement approaches. | Nurse practitioners, by virtue of their educational background, play an important leadership role in the execution of evidence-based practice (DeNisco & Baker, 2016). They fundamentally lead the reform process of the health care system by influencing them to adopt recommendations from PhDs. Thus, their role extends to the creation of health care policy reforms and their subsequent implementation. | It is safe to say that both nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists play important leadership roles in terms of improving the quality of patient care. However, whereas the former primarily do this at the policy level, the latter do this at the clinical setting level via directing staff to implement certain changes. |
| Public Health | Clinical nurse specialists use their experience, education, and perspectives to spearhead advocacy and then policy setting at among others community level. They adopt a leadership style that is based on empowerment and have a broad influence within such communities (Porter-O’Grady, & Malloch, 2016). The essentially specialize as public/community health nurses.
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Nurse practitioners also utilize their education to influence policy at the community level. According to Fooladi (2015), they address the public health needs of communities via home visits, wellness clinics, and establishing associations that can stop severe health situations before they unfold. | In all these roles, the common trend is the role of these nurses in improving the wellness of their communities. They both have influence over their communities and use this influence plus established relationships to prevent outbreak of diseases. |
| Health Care Administration | The role of clinical nurse specialists in health care administration is limited. However, they work in collaboration with administrators in order to improve patient care especially when they are strategically positioned. The closest clinical nurse specialists have c
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