Applicants for upgrade CNS without national certification, Affidavit (pdf - 14kb)

Licensure Application and Instruction for Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) (pdf -204kb)

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Florida will recognize the title CNS as an upgrade to the RN license but CNSs will not have the title of Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP).

Nurses with the title CNS will have the following sub-specialties available: Advanced Diabetes Management, Adult Health, Child/Adolescent Psychiatric & Mental Health, Psychiatric & Mental Health, Gerontological, Pediatric, and Public/Community Health, Advanced Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Certified Critical-Care Nurse Specialist

This law provides for title protection for Certified Nurse Specialists who meet the following criteria:

1. Hold a current and active license as a Registered Nurse in Florida

2. Master’s or higher degree in Nursing as a Clinical Nurse Specialist

3. Advanced Practice Registered Nurse-Board Certified in the nursing specialty as a clinical nurse specialist by one of the four certifying bodies; ANCC, AACN, ONCC, and NBCHPN

4. Have a certificate issued by the FBON as a Clinical Nurse Specialist

The implementation date in the bill is July 1, 2007. This date means that all nurses currently
using the title CNS must discontinue using the title as of July 1, 2007. Those who apply and
qualify will receive an upgraded nursing license, the number and the expiration date will remain
the same. Some nurses using the title CNS will not qualify for the newly created designation and
may be eligible for a partial refund if they apply.

For a short period of time, around 3-6 months, any nurse using the designation Certified Nurse
Specialist or CNS that is reported to the Board office as using the title without an upgraded CNS
license will be issued a “Notice of Non-Compliance with Statute.” The nurse will be given a few
days to stop using the title. This is not considered discipline and there will not be a fine or other
obligations imposed. However, failure to comply with the Notice of Non-Compliance with Statue
could result in discipline against the nurse’s license.

The Board and the Board office are working very hard to put the pieces of this process in place,
such as: who qualifies, how to apply, how long the application process will take.
The Board office is not sure how many applications it will receive initially.

CNSs will not be required to submit protocols, they will not have prescriptive authority and they
will not be able to work on a provisional license.

(Note: Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.)

If you have any questions please e-mail us at mqa_nursing@doh.state.fl.us