What is a CNS ?

A Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) prepared by a master’s, doctoral, or post-graduate certificate level CNS program. CNSs diagnose, prescribe, and treat patients and specialty populations across the continuum of care. The CNS improves outcomes by providing direct patient care, leading evidence-based practice, optimizing organizational systems, and advancing nursing practice.

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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.

OACNS is the state affiliate for the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists.

2019 Video Competition Award

First place in the Team Category, Lori Brittingham, MS, RN, CNS, ACCNS-N, of Reading Hospital for “The Reading Hospital CNS team: We Won’t Stop’’. Clinical nurse specialists are leaders in health care. Watch the newest videos from the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) and the Clinical Nurse Specialist Institute (CNSI) about the role of the CNS.