Press Room

Happy August to all my Ask Phee Phee readers! I hope it has been a summer full of advocacy, and, getting outside to do something fun (for me, it’s been getting out on my husband’s Harley motorcycle)!

This month, we’re going to talk about CNS education, and regulations, or lack thereof, surrounding CNS education and the instructors. Check back during CNS week, September 1-7, for more Ask Phee Phee content!

Part of having continuous advocacy for all CNSs includes promoting that education and CNS programs are led by experienced CNSs. 

What are the guidelines for serving as a program director/coordinator in an academic setting? Does NACNS require or recommend that a CNS Program Director or Coordinator be a CNS in an academic setting?

This is an excellent question, and to answer in short, no, there is no requirement that a CNS educator must be a CNS, but NACNS does recommend it. This requirement can vary from state to state, so we recommend you check your state’s programs. 

It’s strongly encouraged that a CNS program has a CNS instructor, but it cannot be mandated. NACNS promotes? CNSs to be in academic settings, and on this, check out page 59 of the Clinical Nurse Specialist Statement on Education and Practice for more information.

Because the CNS role is so specific based on the area of practice, having a more generalized nurse or healthcare professional teaching CNS classes may cause the unique CNS experience to be overlooked. 

This education statement is also being updated from when it was last published in 2019. What is shown is the most recent –but it still needs to be updated. With our task force working diligently on this, it will be updated in 2024!

Can a Ph.D. or RN with a strong medical, surgical, or clinical educator/administrator background serve as a program coordinator in a CNS academic setting? 

Yes, RN and Ph.D. can teach CNS courses, but should they? Ethically this is such a specific role, CNSs need to be teaching CNSs. From a research perspective, having a Ph.D. is great for education. From the clinical perspective, they may not have the right experience. 

There is a shortage of nurses in academic settings, but also specifically clinical nurse specialists. Because we are smaller in numbers, there is already a lack of CNSs in the education field. We don’t want to lose any CNS programs and we are grateful for the nurses who are willing to teach the next generation, but we need to also advocate for programs to keep and hire CNSs in the education field.  

You can find the list of CNS programs around the country here. If there are any CNS programs you know of that are not listed here, please reach out! We want to ensure we have an accurate representation of the CNS programs currently active. If you are interested in starting or expanding a CNS program, let us know! We also have a Graduate Education Committee. Please reach out to questions@nacns.org!