What is a Clinical Nurse Specialist?
The Clinical Nurse Specialist has been a part of the health care industrial complex in the United States for more than 60 years. Through the decades, the profession has become widely accepted in the health care system as a standardized, licensed, and fully regulated health care occupation, and one that significantly impacts the nation’s economy by providing safe, low-cost, and effective evidence-based health care services.
Clinical Nurse Specialists are Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) who have graduate nursing preparation (Master’s or Doctorate) from a Clinical Nurse Specialist program. Like other advanced practice registered nurses, they are trained in physiology, pharmacology and physical assessment in addition to their particular areas of specialty.
How do Clinical Nurse Specialists practice?
Clinical Nurse Specialists are expert clinicians with advanced education and training in a specialized area of nursing practice who work in a wide variety of health care settings. A Clinical Nurse Specialists’ specialty may be defined by:
• population (such as: pediatrics, geriatrics, women’s health);
• setting (such as: critical care or emergency room);
• disease or medical subspecialty (such as: diabetes or oncology);
• type of care (such as: psychiatric or rehabilitation); or
• type of problem (such as: pain, wounds, stress).

How do Clinical Nurse Specialists influence health care delivery?
Clinical Nurse Specialists provide diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management of patients. They also provide expertise and support to nurses caring for patients at the bedside, help drive practice changes throughout the organization, and ensure the use of best practices and evidence-based care to achieve the best possible patient outcomes.
Clinical Nurse Specialists have the skills and expertise to identify where the gaps are in health care delivery. They can help design and implement interventions, and assess and evaluate those to improve overall health care delivery.
Research into Clinical Nurse Specialist practice demonstrates outcomes such as:
• reduced hospital costs and length of stay;
• reduced frequency of emergency room visits;
• improved pain management practices;
• increased patient satisfaction with nursing care; and
• reduced medical complications in hospitalized patients.

What certifications or specialty certifications are available for Clinical Nurse Specialists?
The APRN Consensus Model states that clinical nurse specialists who practice in the majority of states must obtain certification based on a population area. Current certification examinations based on population include:
• Adult/Gerontology
• Pediatrics
• Neonatal
Source: National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists
https://nacns.org/about-us/what-is-a-cns/