The Office of Nursing Services of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) piloted implementation
of the clinical nurse leader (CNL) into the care delivery model and established a strategic goal
in 2011 to implement the CNL role across the VA health care system. The VA Office of Nursing
Services CNL Implementation and Evaluation (CNL I&E) Service was created as one mechanism
to facilitate that goal in response to a need identified by facility nurse executives for consultative
support for CNL practice integration. This article discusses strategies employed by the CNL I&E
consultative team to help facility-level nursing leadership integrate CNLs into practice. Measures
of success include steady growth in CNL practice capacity as well as positive feedback from
nurse executives about the value of consultative engagement. Future steps to better integrate
CNL practice into the VA include consolidation of lessons learned, collaboration to strengthen
the evidence base for CNL practice, and further exploration of the transformational potential of
CNL practice across the care continuum. Key words: clinical nurse leader, health care delivery,
models, nursing, program evaluation