Clinical Nurse Specialist Core Competencies are no longer a separate document. They are incorporated in the revision of the CNS Statement for Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education (CNS Statement). NACNS is pleased to announce the Revised CNS Statement on Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education, third edition (CNS Statement) is now available in our store in both Digital and Print versions. You can access both versions below:
Statement on CNS Practice and Education (Digital)
Statement on CNS Practice and Education (Print)
Past Competencies Available for Review:
Core Competencies:
Clinical Nurse Specialist Core Competencies (2010) (PDF)
Clinical Nurse Specialist Core Competencies Endorsing Organizations (as of December 2011) (PDF)
Adult-Gero Competencies:
Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Competencies (2010) (PDF)
Women’s Health Competencies:
This document was produced as the result of a collaboration between NACNS and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN). We thank AWHONN for their support on this important project.
Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Specialist Competencies (PDF)
Core Practice Doctorate Competencies:
Core Practice Doctorate Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Competencies (RETIRED) (PDF)
The NACNS CNS Statement for Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education (3rd ed.) delineates the role-specific expectations of the CNS whereas the AACN Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing (2011) and The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice (2006) address degree-specific requirements regardless of role preparation. To alleviate overlap in addressing competencies, NACNS has retired the NACNS Core Practice Doctorate Clinical Nurse Specialist Competencies (2009) as of January 2019. The NACNS CNS Statement for Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education (3rd ed.) is the endorsed role-specific expectations of the CNS regardless of post graduate degree preparation.
Core Practice Doctorate Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Competencies Endorsing Organizations (as of December 2009):
- Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, AMSN
- American Association of Colleges of Nurses, AACN
- American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, ASPAN
- American Nephrology Nurses Association, ANNA
- Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nursing, AWHONN
- Emergency Nurses Association, ENA
- Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, HPNA
- National League for Nursing, NLN
- Oncology Nursing Society, ONS