Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code SIC

Clinical Nurse Specialists

Direct nursing staff in the provision of patient care in a clinical practice setting, such as a hospital, hospice, clinic, or home. Ensure adherence to established clinical policies, protocols, regulations, and standards.

Also called: APN (Advanced Practice Nurse), CNS (Clinical Nurse Specialist), Critical Care CNS (Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist), Neuroscience Clinical Nurse Specialist (Neuroscience CNS), Board Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS-BC), Emergency Clinical Nurse Specialist (Emergency CNS), ICU CNS (Intensive Care Unit Clinical Nurse Specialist), Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist (Pediatric CNS).

O*NET 29-1141.04

At a glance

US median annual pay: $97,550; Middle half earn $80,330 to $112,350. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Master's Degree; 86% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +5% · Faster than average; 3,391,000 jobs in 2024, projected 3,557,100. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Registered nurses".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Provide specialized direct and indirect care to inpatients and outpatients within a designated specialty, such as obstetrics, neurology, oncology, or neonatal care.
Collaborate with other health care professionals and service providers to ensure optimal patient care.
Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.
Develop, implement, or evaluate standards of nursing practice in specialty area, such as pediatrics, acute care, and geriatrics.
Maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or infection control standards.
Instruct nursing staff in areas such as the assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation of disability, illness, management, technology, or resources.
Develop and maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or patient care standards, based on evidence-based practice guidelines or expert opinion.
Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice or organizational systems.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Active Learning4.0 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Medicine and Dentistry4.8 / 5
Education and Training4.4 / 5
Psychology4.3 / 5
English Language4.3 / 5
Biology4.0 / 5
Therapy and Counseling4.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic22
Investigative64
Artistic14
Social87
Enterprising45
Conventional51

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

advanced nurse practitioner · DE Akademischer Krankenpfleger/Akademische Krankenschwester · FR infirmier de pratique avancée/infirmière de pratique avancée
nurse responsible for general care · DE Krankenpfleger Allgemeine Krankenpflege/Krankenschwester Allgemeine Krankenpflege · FR infirmier de soins généraux/infirmière de soins généraux
specialist nurse · DE Fachkrankenpfleger/Fachkrankenschwester · FR infirmier spécialiste/infirmière spécialiste
midwife · DE Hebamme/Entbindungspfleger · FR maïeuticien/sage-femme

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Registered community nurses (2232)70,400 employed
Registered specialist nurses (2233)82,300 employed
Registered nurse practitioners (2234)91,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.23. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (29-1141).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test