Clinical Nurse Specialists
Health Science > Therapeutic ServicesProjected Growth: Much faster than average
Projected Job Openings
Extensive Preparation Needed
Job Description
Your job is to Plan, direct, or coordinate the daily patient care activities in a clinical practice. Ensure adherence to established clinical policies, protocols, regulations, and standards.
Common job titles of Clinical Nurse Specialists include:
.
Experience and Education
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
88.46% said they needed a Master's Degree.
7.69% said they needed a Post-Master's Certificate.
Tasks
Monitor or evaluate medical conditions of patients in collaboration with other health care professionals.
Present clients with information required to make informed health care and treatment decisions.
Plan, evaluate, or modify treatment programs, based on information gathered by observing and interviewing patients or by analyzing patient records.
Maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or infection control standards.
Develop or assist others in development of care and treatment plans.
Provide consultation to other health care providers in areas such as patient discharge, patient care, or clinical procedures.
Collaborate with other health care professionals and service providers to ensure optimal patient care.
Direct or supervise nursing care staff in the provision of patient therapy.
Provide specialized direct and indirect care to inpatients and outpatients within a designated specialty, such as obstetrics, neurology, oncology, or neonatal care.
Write nursing orders.
Prepare reports to document patients' care activities.
Perform discharge planning for patients.
Identify training needs or conduct training sessions for nursing students or medical staff.
Instruct nursing staff in areas such as the assessment, development, implementation and evaluation of disability, illness, management, technology, or resources.
Observe, interview, and assess patients to identify care needs.
Chair nursing departments or committees.
Lead nursing department implementation of, or compliance with, regulatory or accreditation processes.
Design evaluation programs regarding the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice or organizational systems.
Develop and maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or patient care standards, based on evidence-based practice guidelines or expert opinion.
Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.
Make clinical recommendations to physicians, other health care providers, insurance companies, patients, or health care organizations.
Develop, implement, or evaluate standards of nursing practice in specialty area such as pediatrics, acute care, and geriatrics.
Develop nursing service philosophies, goals, policies, priorities, or procedures.
Provide direct care by performing comprehensive health assessments, developing differential diagnoses, conducting specialized tests, or prescribing medications or treatments.
Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice or organizational systems.
Coordinate or conduct educational programs or in-service training sessions on topics such as clinical procedures.
Teach patient education programs that include information required to make informed health care and treatment decisions.
Design patient education programs that include information required to make informed health care and treatment decisions.
Participate in clinical research projects, such as by reviewing protocols, reviewing patient records, monitoring compliance, and meeting with regulatory authorities.
Tools
Wood’s lamps
Wheelchairs
Visual acuity charts
Venous Oxygen Saturation SVO2 monitors
Vaginal exam specula
Urine analysis equipment
Urinary catheters
All ToolsUrinalysis test strips
Umbilical catheters
Ultrasound transducers
Transvenous pacemakers
Transport cardiac monitors
Transfer boards
Transcutaneous pacemakers
Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation TENS equipment
Traction weights
Tracheotomy sets
Tracheal suctioning equipment
Tourniquets
Tongue blades
Thoracentesis trays
Thoracentesis kits
Telemetry monitors
Tablet computers
Swan Ganz artery catheters
Suture removal kits
Surgical staple removers
Surgical scalpels
Surgical razors
Surgical irrigation sets
Straight surgical scissors
Straight hemostats
Sphygmomanometers
Specimen collection containers
Specialty patient care beds
Skin staplers
Sandbags
Safety goggles
Ring forceps
Ring cutters
Reflex hammers
Pulse oximeters
Pulmonary artery catheters
Protective medical face masks
Protective gowns
Protective face shields
Pneumatic boots
Pill splitters
Pill crushers
Pericardiocentesis kits
Pediatric crash carts
Patient walkers
Patient restraints
Oxygen flowmeters
Oxygen delivery masks
Oxygen concentrators
Otoscopes
Ostomy equipment
Orthopedic splinting equipment
Oral suctioning equipment
Ophthalmoscopes
Ophthalmic tonometers
Ophthalmic slit lamps
Occlusion clamps
Newborn warming lamps
Nasopharyngeal airways
Nasogastric tubes
Nasal suctioning equipment
Nasal specula
Nasal catheters
Multiple lumen central line catheters
Microscope slides
Medical scales
Medical gurneys
Medical examination protective gloves
Mechanical stethoscopes
Mechanical intermittent positive pressure ventilators
Manual resuscitation bags
Magill forceps
Laptop computers
Lancets
Laceration repair trays
Isolettes
Intubation sets
Intravenous IV cutdown trays
Intravenous IV administration sets
Intravenous infusion pumps
Intracranial pressure monitors
Incision drainage equipment
Incentive spirometers
Hypodermic syringes
Hyper/hypothermia blankets
Hemodynamic monitors
Handheld nebulizers
Graduated glass laboratory cylinders
Fiberoptic endoscopes
Fetal monitors
Eye lavage kits
Evacuated blood collection tubes
Epidural catheters
Enteral feeding sets
Enema equipment
Endotracheal ET tubes
End tidal carbon dioxide monitors
Electrosurgical cauterization machines
Electronic compressor nebulizers
Electrocardiography EKG machines
Ear curettes
Doppler ultrasound equipment
Digital patient thermometers
Diagnostic tuning forks
Desktop computers
Crutches
Crash carts
Clinical trapeze traction bars
Chest drains
Cast cutting saws
Cast carts
Cardiac monitors
Bulb syringes
Bronchoscopes
Breast pumps
Blood pressure monitors
Blood glucometers
Blood drawing syringes
Bilevel positive airway pressure BiPAP ventilators
Bedpans
Backboards
Autotransfusion systems
Automated medicine dispensing equipment
Automated external defibrillators AED
Arterial line catheters
Arterial blood gas testing equipment
Apnea monitors
Angiocaths
Alligator forceps
Technologies
Allscripts Professional EHR
Amkai AmkaiCharts
Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR
Cerner Millennium
ChartWare EMR
e-MDs software
eClinicalWorks
All TechnologiesGE Healthcare Centricity EMR
Medscribbler Enterprise
MicroFour PracticeStudio.NET EMR
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems EMR
Online medical databases
SOAPware EMR
StatCom Patient Flow Logistics Enterprise Suite
SynaMed EMR
Texas Medical Software SpringCharts EMR
Skills
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
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.
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.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Science
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
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.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Abilities
Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Expression
Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Comprehension
Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Problem Sensitivity
Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Comprehension
Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Expression
Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Deductive Reasoning
Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Inductive Reasoning