Becoming a clinical nurse specialist is a great way of taking control of your career progression. Taking on new challenges to earn the right skills and credentials to advance at work can be very exciting, but before you take the next step, it is useful to learn as much as possible about becoming a clinical nurse specialist. Here’s what you need to know.
What is a clinical nurse specialist?
Before going into the details of becoming a clinical nurse specialist, let’s first define the position. Clinical nurse specialists are advanced practice registered nurses who have earned a doctoral or master’s degree in nursing care.
They have extensive training in biochemistry, toxicology and physical evaluation, in addition to their specific areas of specialization. Many states’ regulations permit them to diagnose, treat and prescribe medications.
Outside of this, they can offer knowledge and assistance to a group of nurses. They frequently work with organizations to develop programs that assure the use of high-quality standards and the delivery of evidence-based treatment.
Regardless of the healthcare organization they choose to work for, the four primary roles of clinical nurse specialists are educator, expert clinician, researcher and consultant. They are trained extensively to identify flaws or deficiencies in medical care. Additionally, clinical nurse specialists may offer consulting services, interact with patients and their families, monitor patient care, plan and carry out treatments, and assess the overall quality of care provided.
As a clinical nursing specialist, you must exhibit your ability to watch for acute changes and decline, understand how to deal with it, and interact with physicians and teams on a professional and medical level. In addition to clinical nursing expertise, clinical nurse specialists frequently serve as mentors or preceptors to less seasoned nurses, such as newly graduated nurses.
Clinical nurse specialists must fulfill certain responsibilities to ensure successful healthcare delivery. These include:
- Overseeing and planning the unit’s everyday patient safety operations and scheduling employees and patients to guarantee that demands are always met and that services are efficient.
- Offering triage advice to physicians and staff and tracking patient assessment and treatment decisions.
- Checking the performance of workers in supporting positions and participating in the creation and implementation of operating policy and procedure and development planning.
- Observing and offering patients direct nurse evaluation and necessary care and consultation.
- Coordinating services with other patient care units and the public.
- Ensuring that tools and supplies are used and maintained correctly while promoting the ongoing development of workplace safety and environmental practices.
- Carrying out other tasks relevant to the work, as needed.
In addition, clinical nurse specialists assume a critical role in finding ways to minimize the length of in-patient stays, hospital expenses, frequency of emergency room visits, and health issues. In doing so, they can enhance pain management practices and overall patient satisfaction.
Why should you become a clinical nurse specialist?
Now that the roles and responsibilities of clinical nurse specialists have been defined, you might be wondering about the benefits of pursuing this career. Here is a look at the advantages one might reap from becoming a clinical nurse specialist.
It can be rewarding and fulfilling
Even though it may appear like a minor issue, the lack of fulfilling work in daily job tasks is one of the reasons most American employees feel exhausted. According to the American Psychological Association, finding significance in what you do can boost motivation and happiness at work.
Nursing, at its core, is about doing work that matters. You might experience a sense of belonging to something greater than yourself when you work as a clinical nurse specialist. You can help the medical facility operate correctly in the background or support patients’ families while their loved ones go through some of the most trying stages of recovery.
Whatever your position is within the field, being a clinical nurse specialist allows you to nurture your drive to aid people and improve the world. Moreover, it fosters personal development. In contrast to other careers, working as a clinical nurse specialist exposes you to a diverse range of people daily.
This may seem overwhelming at first, but it also offers an excellent chance to absorb knowledge from others. You will learn how to handle various people and their emotions.
This may be crucial in helping you develop lifelong abilities such as compassion, thoroughness, a positive outlook, and stress management, which may be helpful to you in the workplace.
It opens more opportunities for career advancement
Although the nursing employment shortage has been a topic of discussion for years, if not decades, some nurses are currently unemployed. Recent data shows most nurses need help securing a job after graduation or leaving another healthcare organization.
You can learn a lot about various subjects related to organizing, coordinating, and managing the nursing activities of an organization by pursuing a clinical nurse specialist degree. Career opportunities will come to you if you expand your educational qualifications and nursing skills.
Clinical nurse specialists have multiple options for work that is not directly patient-related. With many distinctive alternatives available, you can discover your passion and pursue the job that best suits your objectives.
You can look for a job as a caseworker, advisor, or instructor, in addition to working as a scientist or executive. Some clinical nurse specialists work in offices, troubleshooting for hospitals or clinics or conducting research to assist and enhance the organization and the care provided to patients.
Being a clinical nurse specialist also opens access to fields such as oncology, pulmonary care and diabetes for those who want to work with particular populations. Other clinical nurse specialists decide to work as project leaders, lab scientists, or salespeople for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
It has competitive salary potential and benefits
Because of the constant need for trained professionals, salaries in the healthcare sector are almost always higher than those in other industries. Numbers show that the average annual salary of a clinical nurse specialist in the United States ranges from $103,699 to $125,626, with an average of $114,685.
Even though money should not be the main factor, it can have a significant impact on career-related decisions. After all, the challenges that arise at work can be masked by a generous and consistent salary.
You can improve your chances of requesting pay based on your goals if you have the right abilities and educational qualifications in your toolkit. Thanks to their extensive knowledge and the general scope of their responsibilities, the pay grade of clinical nurse specialists is much higher than that of the typical nurse.
However, it is essential to remember that, like in other occupations, your location, years of work experience, and education level will significantly impact how much money you may expect to make as a clinical nurse specialist.
It empowers you to become a nurse leader
Effective leadership is more than a trendy word in nursing circles. As the healthcare environment experiences a radical transformation, nurses frequently face new difficulties, opportunities and procedures.
A strong leader often helps nursing teams through these changes. Clinical nurse specialists are frequently seen as leaders who may provide more effective and secure healthcare systems within enterprises. Regardless of the institution, clinical nurse leaders are at the point of care and prioritize managing patient safety and assessing health outcomes.
Moreover, studying to become a clinical nurse specialist allows you to establish meaningful connections. The nursing industry is about whom you know as much as what you know.
You never stop learning in your professional career. This is especially true for nursing, where innovative technologies and processes continue to emerge as part of efficient healthcare delivery.
By becoming a clinical nurse specialist, you will remain competitive with the advancements, allowing you to become a more qualified leader. The last thing you want is to lose your job and be replaced by someone else because you do not have the qualifications to be a nurse leader.
How to become a clinical nurse specialist
Now that the benefits of becoming a clinical nurse specialist have been outlined, you might wonder what it takes to become one. This section provides a step-by-step guide on how you can work toward becoming a clinical nurse specialist.
Earn a Master of Science in Nursing degree
Enrolling in an accredited Master of Science in Nursing program is one of the steps toward becoming a clinical nurse specialist. Earning an advanced degree in nursing is a proven method of developing specialized skills for employment in the healthcare industry with greater responsibilities, such as becoming a clinical nurse specialist.
When choosing an advanced nursing program, make sure it is affordable and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. You can inquire about certified and affordable online NP programs that provide extensive training at Carson-Newman. At this university, you can learn how to train to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. This degree will give you the ability to impact healthcare as a primary care practitioner with increased autonomy and decision-making authority for your patients.
Why do accreditations matter when choosing an advanced online nursing degree? Clinical nurse specialists must complete a skills-based curriculum emphasizing healthcare decision-making, interdepartmental collaboration and systematic assessment. By doing this, they will be equipped to take the lead and cater to each patient’s unique needs.
Moreover, it guarantees that the requirements have been met thanks to a quality assurance evaluation. The U.S. Secretary of Education often gives these accrediting organizations permission to create exact benchmarks to evaluate the caliber of an online university’s nursing program.
Additionally, it ensures that the academic institution’s nursing programs adhere to high standards. Furthermore, it demonstrates the institution’s dedication to raising standards and giving students the most outstanding training possible to become effective healthcare professionals.
Depending on your chosen academic institution, the clinical nurse specialist curriculum will include the following topics.
- Advanced Pharmacology
You will study the advanced pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of popular medication classes in this course. It will also discuss the significance of high-quality, safe and economical pharmacological therapy for patient care.
- Advanced Pathophysiology
This course covers various physiologic and pathological processes of diseases. It will also display and assess these processes based on the provision and supervision of patient care at an advanced level.
- Advanced Health Assessment
This course covers the elements of a thorough client health examination. Additionally, it deals with the sophisticated use and synthesis of sociocultural, psychological and physiological concepts as they are applied to comprehensive health assessments of societal units, families and individuals.
- Research Methods and Design in Nursing
This course investigates the various study designs used in clinical research for health-related trends in healthcare delivery, along with qualitative and statistical methodologies.
- Advanced Primary Nursing Care for Adults
This course deals with the development and use of advanced professional nursing in delivering adult health promotion and care services, including those designed for the aging population.
Earn certifications
Besides earning an online degree, you may also need to get certified before becoming a clinical nurse specialist. It is important to pay attention to the value of certifications in an industry as cutthroat as nursing. Being credentialed may give a nurse a competitive edge while looking for work in specific specializations and sectors, such as pursuing a career as a clinical nurse specialist.
Fundamentally speaking, certifications can result in better work opportunities. This is because it can exhibit a higher degree of clinical skills, confirm specialist knowledge and improve professionalism. Moreover, these certifications will provide you with the license to practice in a specific state.
You might wonder about the certifications you should obtain to become a clinical nurse specialist. While nurses are often advised to select qualifications that align with their professional objectives, a certificate in adult-gerontology clinical nursing is required.
This board certification assessment, which the Accreditation Board accredits for Specialty Nursing Certification, is a rigorous and trustworthy evaluation of a clinical nurse specialist’s healthcare skills and knowledge.
You are given the credential of AGCNS when you fulfill the requirements to take and pass the licensing exam. This certification is valid for five years. You can continue to use this credential by keeping your practice license current and fulfilling the certification renewal requirements in effect before the expiration date.
What to expect from an online clinical nurse specialist degree
Here is a look at what you might encounter while working toward becoming a clinical nurse specialist.
Multiple projects and assignments
When enrolling in a clinical nurse specialist course, the tasks and activities you will be assigned depend on your instructor and other variables. However, many advanced nursing courses employ group chat boards where you can pose pertinent questions to the instructor and other students.
Online nursing programs frequently use standardized examinations since they concentrate on model testing, microbiology and public health. You will be required to complete a final project near the end of the online nursing degree. To do this, you might have to finish a thesis or a research project or take and pass multiple tests.
Nursing rotations and residencies
Every clinically oriented online nursing degree program will call for clinical placement and tasks at residencies where students can apply their skills and abilities. You can coordinate several clinical rotations and residencies with healthcare facilities close to your location.
You may be required to visit isolated areas that your selected institution of higher learning will choose for you. Therefore, before choosing an online university, you should carefully consider the clinical rotation and residency requirements for each program and the clinical placement procedure.
You will obtain practical experience under qualified supervision in various situations and form crucial connections with prospective employers during practicum and get advice from an experienced mentor.
Frequently asked questions about becoming a clinical nurse specialist
Do you still have questions about becoming a clinical nurse specialist? Here are some answers!
What is the length of time required to become a clinical nursing specialist?
At least six years usually are needed, with a BSN taking four years and an MSN taking two. If you already possess an ADN, you might be eligible to participate in a three-year RN to MSN program. You will require more time to acquire a DNP or study part-time.
What education and training are required to become a clinical nursing specialist?
You need to obtain an MSN or DNP from a recognized program, pass the certification exam, and obtain your local license to practice as a clinical nurse specialist. A 3.0 GPA is typically required for MSN programs. Some employers may demand further specialized certificates.
Can clinical nurse specialists write prescriptions for drugs?
States have different regulations in place. CNS nurses are permitted to prescribe medication in areas where they have full practicing power, while some may call for extra training. You might need a doctor’s supervision to administer pharmaceuticals in states with curtailed or limited practice authority, or you might not be able to do so at all.
Work toward a meaningful career as a clinical nurse specialist
The advantages of becoming a clinical nurse specialist are endless, making this a strong career choice that is worth considering if you want to help people and enjoy a rewarding profession.
