What do they do?
Direct nursing staff in the provision of patient care in a clinical practice setting, such as a hospital, hospice, clinic, or home. Ensure adherence to established clinical policies, protocols, regulations, and standards.
Also known as:
Cardiology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist, Emergency Clinical Nurse Specialist, Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist, ICU Clinical Nurse Specialist (Intensive Care Unit Clinical Nurse Specialist), Neuroscience Clinical Nurse Specialist, Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, Psychiatric Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist, Trauma ICU Clinical Nurse Specialist (Trauma Intensive Care Unit Clinical Nurse Specialist)
No Data Available
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0.9%
Change
Ranks #66 in job growth rate7,700Job Openings
Ranks #10 in net job growth
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- Bachelor's degree (53%)
- Associate's degree (28%)
- Master's degree (11%)
- Some college, no degree (4%)
- Doctorate or Professional Degree (2%)
- High school diploma equivalent (1%)
- Less than high school diploma (<1%)
Most Popular Majors that prepare Clinical Nurse Specialists
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#1
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Degrees Granted
155,019
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Female Students
134,589
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Male Students
20,430
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Median Starting Salary
$57,500
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#2
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Degrees Granted
2,526
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Female Students
2,222
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Male Students
304
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Median Starting Salary
$57,500
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#3
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Degrees Granted
1,581
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Female Students
1,379
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Male Students
202
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Median Starting Salary
$57,500
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#4
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Degrees Granted
1,502
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Female Students
1,283
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Male Students
219
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Median Starting Salary
$57,500
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#5
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Degrees Granted
970
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Female Students
861
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Male Students
109
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Median Starting Salary
$57,500
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People in this career often have these skills:
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
People in this career often know a lot about:
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
People in this career often have talent in:
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
People in this career often do these activities:
- Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
- Establish nursing policies or standards.
- Supervise patient care personnel.
- Maintain medical or professional knowledge.
- Train medical providers.
- Support the professional development of others.
- Advise medical personnel regarding healthcare issues.
- Follow protocols or regulations for healthcare activities.
- Develop medical treatment plans.
- Analyze patient data to determine patient needs or treatment goals.
- Treat acute illnesses, infections, or injuries.
- Monitor patient conditions during treatments, procedures, or activities.
- Evaluate patient functioning, capabilities, or health.
- Develop procedures to evaluate organizational activities.
- Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
- Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
- Manage healthcare operations.
- Communicate detailed medical information to patients or family members.
- Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
- Monitor medical facility activities to ensure adherence to standards or regulations.
- Develop educational programs.
- Diagnose medical conditions.
- Prescribe medications.
- Prepare reports summarizing patient diagnostic or care activities.
- Teach classes in area of specialization.
This page includes data from:
Career data: O*NET 28.3 Database
by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (“USDOL/ETA”). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA
Occupation statistics: USDOL U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics
Videos: CareerOneStop, USDOL/ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development
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