Re: Clinical Nurse Specialist Originally Posted by 4nrn 
All of this information is great. I am currently in an FNP program to graduate in 2011 and recently heard of a possible requirement in 2015 that NP's will have to have a doctorate to practice. Now Im wondering, if this really happens, could I switch from practicing as an NP to a CNS if I decide I don't want to go back to school at that time? Any info that anyone has would be greatly appreciated!
I've known people who have done that -- and it is sometimes possible -- but there are problems with that plan that you need to consider.
You wouldn't have the right education for a CNS role and may find that aspects of the role are frustrating. You may struggle with those aspects of the role (staff development, project management, etc.) for which you have no or little advanced education.
You may not be eligible to be certified as a CNS or eligible for CNS licensure in some states. Those requirements vary from state to state and it seems as if they are changing all the time. Personally, I have never had special licensure or been certified as a CNS even though I have practiced in CNS roles for years. In some states and jobs, it is no problem. But in other places, it is.
The bottom line is that the knowledge and skills required of a good CNS are not the same as those required by an NP. Unless you get an education that prepares you for the functions of the job you want to do, you will be at a disadvantage.
All that said ... There is a shortage of people educated as CNS's in many places. Back in the 1990's a lot of nursing schools dropped their CNS programs in favor of NP programs. Now, many of those areas are experiencing a glut of NP's who have trouble finding good jobs .... and a shortage of nurses prepared to work as CNS's in hospital settings. In those places, a NP can sometimes get hired to do the work of a CNS.
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