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Health systems around the world are grappling with the task of providing system-wide evidence based, personcentred, efficient and effective care. Clinical leadership, particularly of nursing staff, is proposed to be integral in reaching this goal ( NHS Leadership Academy, 2013; NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, 2011).
Work within RDNS from the organisation's learning development department and the RDNS Institute, is examining the issue of clinical leadership, how to define it and facilitate it in practice.
There is no one clear definition of clinical leadership, with a number of definitions proposed by various organisations. We suggest that the following clinical leadership definition provides a good summary:
".... the process of developing a culture and leading a set of tasks to continually improve the quality and safety of service delivery to consumers. Effective clinical leadership involves individuals with the appropriate skills and attributes, at all levels of an organisation, focussing on multidisciplinary/ interdisciplinary service delivery. " (VHA, 2009)
Up until fairly recently, clinical leadership in nursing has tended to focus on nursing leaders who are in formal leadership positions, such as nurse managers. While nurse managers may be clinical leaders, this is usually in the context of their management activities, such as the planning and...