Clinical nurse specialist vs. APRN?

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what are the differences between the two. I have tried to look online but the answers are all ambiguous. What are the educational differences between the two?

Can Nurse specialist prescribe and open a private practice as well?

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It depends on the state. Clinical nurse specialists are advanced practice nurses who are educated at the graduate level and nationally certified, same as CRNAs, NPs, and CNMs. However, some states offer them prescriptive authority and some don't.

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As for opening a private practice, my specialty is psychiatry and lots of psych CNSs have private psychotherapy practices. I'm not in a position to speak to other specialties.

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I can't seem to be able to find the difference between the two, so what is the difference between them and what they can do?

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Maybe this website will help start you off:

Clinical Nurse Specialist Vs. Nurse Practitioner | HEALTHeCAREERS

I'm sure others will come along with more for you :)

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Their scope of practice CAN also vary by which state they are licensed in.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Merged two threads

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Specializes in PICU.

Where I work the CNSs work with the bedside nurses and are more of an educator role to the RNs. They don't do any direct patient care. Their job is entirely different from ours. Where I used to work they didn't use CNSs. I think unless you have a specific job in mind, NP is the better way to go. There is s lot more options.

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thanks for your informative post! learned a lot

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