This report is a follow-up to the recent endorsement of policy recommendations for optimizing the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) workforce in BC (http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90385). In collaboration with CNS Association of BC, we invited all BC CNSs and the nursing leaders who support their role across health authorities, to attend a dedicated in-person and virtual meeting, to move forward Policy #5 Develop, Test, Implement and Report an Inventory of CNS Impact Metrics to Support Role Evaluation. The provincial CNS Summit, held on October 9, 2025, aimed to achieve the following objectives: (1) discuss the challenges, opportunities and imperatives to 'tell the story' of why CNS work is essential to improve outcomes and the delivery of health services; (2) gain diverse perspectives on how CNSs impact clinical care, advancement of nursing practice, system leadership, and evaluation, research and knowledge translation; (3) co-construct recommendation to inform an evaluation framework to improve the visibility and understanding of the unique contributions of CNSs; and (4) contribute to strengthening the BC CNS community of practice. In the following report, we summarize a draft framework for capturing the direct and indirect impact of CNSs across six evidence-informed areas: (1) equity and inclusion, (2) practice in their specialized area of patient and population care, (3) health system transformation, (4) organizational priorities, (5) leadership and innovation, and (6) capacity building. Key reflections highlight the CNS role as a ‘super-connector’ who effectively ‘nurses the system’, while emphasizing that a rigorous, comprehensive and useful role evaluation requires specialized knowledge and skills. Furthermore, any evaluation must match the intended audience to ensure that CNSs communicate effectively and strategically ‘speak the language’ of the interested parties, supported by improved data governance and streamlined data processes. For CNSs, leaders and organizations, recognizing and celebrating the contributions and impact of CNS work within programs and across organizations is vital to optimizing the workforce and strengthening their leadership. This meeting was supported by a Michael Smith Health Research BC REACH Competition grant (RA-2024-04226), awarded to co-principal investigators S. Lauck (UBC, Providence Health Care) and L. Lambert (BC Cancer, Provincial Health Services Authority, UBC) in collaboration with the BC Nursing Workforce Research Network. We acknowledge the valuable contributions of the broader study team through the foundational research that informed the development of this work.
Lauck et al. (Thu,) studied this question.