A Nurse Practitioner Leadership Model for a Sexual Health Clinic in Canada:: Staff Feedback about Implementation and Operations

Staff changes in the management model of our sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic led us to transition the role of medical director into a clinic director, who is a nurse practitioner. In this new model, the clinic director oversees all aspect of clinical operations, including the medical directives and physician management. To evaluate the impact of this change, we undertook a 6-month evaluation of this model, including surveys with our nurses, physicians, and administrative staff. We found that the new model was well-accepted. Points of learning were that staff initially found communication more difficult, and that the physician group felt under-represented. We adjusted our model through clearer communication strategies and by establishing a designated physician lead. These results highlight that STI clinics can operate successfully using nursing leadership models. Indeed, our clinic continues to run with this model 3 years later.