Clinical nurse specialists are advanced practice registered nurses who hold a master’s or doctoral degree in a specialized area of nursing practice. Their area of clinical expertise may be in any of the following Population (e.g. pediatrics, geriatrics, women’s health), Setting (e.g. critical care, emergency room), Disease or medical subspecialty (e.g. diabetes, oncology), Type of care (e.g. psychiatric, rehabilitation), Type of health problem (e.g. pain, wounds, stress).

In addition to conventional nursing responsibilities, which focus upon helping patients to prevent or resolve illness, a clinical nurse specialist’s scope of practice includes diagnosing and treating diseases, injuries and/or disabilities within his/her field of expertise. Clinical nurse specialists provide direct patient care, serve as expert consultants for nursing staffs and take an active role in improving health care delivery systems. Clinical nurse specialists often work in management positions and may also develop or work with a team to develop policies and procedures.

You will generally have 90 minutes to answer 60 questions, although specific number of questions and time allotted may vary by state. The clinical part of the exam consists of performing an assigned set of specific skills. Generally, this will be five skills plus hand washing and indirect care. The time you have to perform these skills vary based on the activities you are assigned to perform, but usually the total time for this portion of the exam will be 30 – 40 minutes.

The CNS exam consists of 175 question, 150 count toward the final score and 25 are included for future exams. There are:
  • 62 Nursing Science questions
  • 23 Organization/Network/Health System questions
  • 16 Basic and Applied Science questions
  • 11 Research questions
  • 17 Educational questions
  • 21 Professional Attitudes questions
Make sure you are prepared for your Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Exam. McRee Learning Center can help.
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