What Does it Take to Be a Clinical Nurse Specialist?
Job Description & Duties Plan, direct, or coordinate the daily patient care activities in a clinical practice. Ensure adherence to established clinical policies, protocols, regulations, and standards.
Daily Life Of a Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Collaborate with other health care professionals and service providers to ensure optimal patient care.
- Provide specialized direct and indirect care to inpatients and outpatients within a designated specialty, such as obstetrics, neurology, oncology, or neonatal care.
- Maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or infection control standards.
- Design patient education programs that include information required to make informed health care and treatment decisions.
- Make clinical recommendations to physicians, other health care providers, insurance companies, patients, or health care organizations.
- Develop or assist others in development of care and treatment plans.
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Clinical Nurse Specialist Skills
These are the skills Clinical Nurse Specialists say are the most useful in their careers:
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
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.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
Types of Clinical Nurse Specialist Jobs
- Cardiology Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Quality Management Nurse
- Advanced Practice Nurse, Cardiothoracic Surgery
- Cardiology Clinical Consultant
- Cardiovascular Clinical Nurse Specialist
Is There Going to be Demand for Clinical Nurse Specialists?
In 2016, there was an estimated number of 2,955,200 jobs in the United States for Clinical Nurse Specialist. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 14.8% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 438,000 new jobs for Clinical Nurse Specialist by 2026. There will be an estimated 203,700 positions for Clinical Nurse Specialist per year.

The states with the most job growth for Clinical Nurse Specialist are Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Watch out if you plan on working in Rhode Island, Wisconsin, or Connecticut. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Salary for a Clinical Nurse Specialist
The salary for Clinical Nurse Specialists ranges between about $50,800 and $106,530 a year.

Clinical Nurse Specialists who work in Hawaii, California, or Oregon, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Clinical Nurse Specialists in different U.S. states.
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $59,470 |
Alaska | $89,310 |
Arizona | $77,000 |
Arkansas | $60,780 |
California | $106,950 |
Colorado | $74,240 |
Connecticut | $81,220 |
Delaware | $74,800 |
District of Columbia | $92,350 |
Florida | $66,210 |
Georgia | $68,950 |
Hawaii | $98,080 |
Idaho | $67,110 |
Illinois | $73,890 |
Indiana | $64,860 |
Iowa | $59,130 |
Kansas | $61,030 |
Kentucky | $63,100 |
Louisiana | $63,970 |
Maine | $67,610 |
Maryland | $76,820 |
Massachusetts | $92,140 |
Michigan | $71,330 |
Minnesota | $78,920 |
Mississippi | $58,490 |
Missouri | $65,130 |
Montana | $67,450 |
Nebraska | $64,470 |
Nevada | $85,620 |
New Hampshire | $72,760 |
New Jersey | $82,750 |
New Mexico | $71,730 |
New York | $85,610 |
North Carolina | $64,850 |
North Dakota | $65,740 |
Ohio | $66,820 |
Oklahoma | $63,080 |
Oregon | $91,080 |
Pennsylvania | $70,390 |
Rhode Island | $78,420 |
South Carolina | $64,940 |
South Dakota | $58,340 |
Tennessee | $61,320 |
Texas | $72,890 |
Utah | $65,670 |
Vermont | $69,160 |
Virginia | $69,790 |
Washington | $82,670 |
West Virginia | $61,780 |
Wisconsin | $71,470 |
Wyoming | $67,360 |
What Tools & Technology do Clinical Nurse Specialists Use?
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Clinical Nurse Specialists:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Web browser software
- Email software
- GE Healthcare Centricity EMR
- Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR
- eClinicalWorks
- e-MDs software
- SOAPware EMR
- Allscripts Professional EHR
- ChartWare EMR
- NextGen Healthcare Information Systems EMR
- MicroFour PracticeStudio.NET EMR
- Cerner Millennium
- SynaMed EMR
- Texas Medical Software SpringCharts EMR
- Amkai AmkaiCharts
- StatCom Patient Flow Logistics Enterprise Suite
How to Become a Clinical Nurse Specialist
Individuals working as a Clinical Nurse Specialist have obtained the following education levels:

What work experience do I need to become a Clinical Nurse Specialist?

Where do Clinical Nurse Specialists Work?

The table below shows the approximate number of Clinical Nurse Specialists employed by various industries.

Related Careers
Those interested in being a Clinical Nurse Specialist may also be interested in:
References:
Image Credit: Aleksahgabrielle via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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