Mahem!

Bachelors at least. They are state jobs so they have to do the civil service test first. They are nurses, social workers, dieticians..

Most state surveyors have experience in the area which they survey example, nursing homes, outpatient facilities, hospitals. When they come into the hospital (a nurse for example) he or she may not necessarily have worked in that particular area but they must have knowledge regarding the standards for the area they are looking at. When I worked in Texas I worked at a large inner city county hospital and we had a very large psychiatric facility. When we had an event regarding psych, the state would send out the nurse who had the psych experience to review the matter.

In my state most are RN's. Some are ADN, Some BSN...it depends on your experience, and the interviewing process as to whether or not you are qualified for the job. After hire, you are provided with training and must pass a Surveyor Qualifications Test after completing "Basic Training" with CMS. You then are evaluated just as with any other job for performance. CMS regularly sends Federal Surveyors with the teams to evaluate their survey techniques and abilities.