The Clinical Nurse Leader: A Catalyst in Community Healthcare Transformation

Today's healthcare crisis offers distinct opportunities for the clinical nurse leader (CNL) to develop and evolve as a community healthcare practitioner delivering high-quality, patient-centered, safe, and efficient care on a microsystem clinical level. Chronic diseases are reaching epidemic proportion in the United States. The risk for several chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, asthma, and certain cancers, are attributed to obesity or overweight. Currently, two-thirds of US adults and one-fifth of US children are obese or overweight.