Clinical Nurse Specialists

Employers

There are approximately 89,000 clinical nurse specialists in North America, according to the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS). Clinical nurse specialists work in a wide range of health care settings, depending on their particular area of specialization and interest. They are employed in hospitals, clinics, community health centers, mental health facilities, nursing homes, home health care agencies, federal Veterans Affairs facilities, nursing schools and other educational institutions, physicians' offices, and the military. A few are in private or independent practice.

Starting Out

Information about job openings for clinical nurse specialists is available from many sources. Your nursing school career services office is the best place to start; other avenues include nursing registries, nurse employment agencies, and online job posting sites such as LinkedIn.com and Indeed.com. Contacts you have made through clinical work or involvement in professional societies can be helpful sources of information. The organization that formerly employed you as a staff nurse may be eager to rehire you as a clinical nurse specialist once you have received your master's degree in nursing and been certified in an advanced practice specialty. Information about federal government jobs can be found at https://www.usajobs.gov.