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Clinical Nurse Specialist

Types of Degrees Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors Are Earning

Those studying Clinical Nurse Specialist have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Bachelor’s Degree	8
Master’s Degree	273
Doctor’s Degree	40

What Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Clinical Nurse Specialist develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Clinical Nurse Specialist graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Clinical Nurse Specialist emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 6.0 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• Therapy and Counseling — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set built by a Clinical Nurse Specialist program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to Clinical Nurse Specialist careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Clinical Nurse Specialist graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.8 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.6 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.6 / 7
Getting Information	4.6 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.6 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.4 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.3 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.3 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.3 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Clinical Nurse Specialist professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
eClinicalWorks EHR software	Medical software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Medical condition coding software	Medical software	—
MEDITECH software	Medical software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft SharePoint	Document management software	—
Epic Systems	Medical software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Clinical Nurse Specialist graduates include:

• Pediatric Oncology Nurse
• Psychiatric RN (Psychiatric Registered Nurse)
• Staff Nurse
• Nurse
• Registered Nurse (RN)
• PACU RN (Post Anesthesia Care Unit Registered Nurse)
• Charge Nurse
• Prenatal Nurse
• Obstetrics Nurse (OB Nurse)
• Med-Surg Telemetry RN (Medical Surgical Telemetry Registered Nurse)
• Oncology RN (Oncology Registered Nurse)
• Post-Anesthesia Room Nurse
• PACU Nurse (Post-Anesthesia Care Unit Nurse)
• Industrial RN (Industrial Registered Nurse)
• Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse (Med-Surg RN)

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Clinical Nurse Specialist graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Master’s degree	44.5%
Bachelor’s degree	24.3%
Doctoral degree	10.0%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	8.9%
Postsecondary certificate	7.8%
First professional degree	1.4%
Post-doctoral training	1.4%
Post-master’s certificate	1.3%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.3%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Clinical Nurse Specialist?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 87.5% of Clinical Nurse Specialist degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	281	87.5%
Men	40	12.5%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Clinical Nurse Specialist graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	136	42.4%
Asian	66	20.6%
Hispanic or Latino	69	21.5%
Black or African American	16	5.0%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	1	0.3%
Two or More Races	19	5.9%
Race Unknown	9	2.8%
International Students	5	1.6%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Clinical Nurse Specialist Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Clinical Nurse Specialist graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$83,453
4 years	$80,149
5 years	$90,156

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $90,156 — roughly 8% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Clinical Nurse Specialist Programs

Distance learning is reported by IPEDS for Clinical Nurse Specialist. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	4	9

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Clinical Nurse Specialist Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, Clinical Nurse Specialist graduates earn a median of $80,149 four years after completion — roughly 111% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	51.38
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	51.3803
Clinical Nurse Leader	51.3820
Critical Care Nursing	51.3814
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing	51.3816
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	51.3805
Forensic Nursing	51.3824
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	51.3821
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing	51.3806
Nurse Anesthetist	51.3804
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	51.3807
Nursing Administration	51.3802

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.