Nursing, midwifery and personal care

How to become a clinical nurse specialist

Official title: Clinical nurse specialist

Also called: Clinical nurse leader, Clinical nurse team leader, Clinical nurse coordinator, Clinical nurse manager, Hospital matron, Principal nurse, Staff nurse

Clinical nurse specialists provide specialised patient care and consultation services in hospitals, clinics and other health facilities. They may manage specialised nursing staff.

Main tasks

Oversee patient care
Develop nursing policies and standards
Assess patients
Develop medical treatment plans
Oversee medical staff
Train nurses and other medical professionals
Educate patients and colleagues
Work with other medical professionals

How to become one

You need a qualification to become a clinical nurse specialist. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a bachelor's degree in nursing; a postgraduate certificate or diploma in nursing OR a master's degree in nursing; to pass an assessment by an approved provider; to pass a Nursing Council of New Zealand examination for registered nurses; to have further experience or training in a specialist area of nursing; an Annual Practising Certificate; to pass a police check. Registration body: Nursing Council of New Zealand.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Nursing & Midwifery degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand
Registration or licence: To pass a Nursing Council of New Zealand examination for registered nurses; an Annual Practising Certificate. Registration body: Nursing Council of New Zealand (https://www.nursingcouncil.org.nz/).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $91,000 to $131,000 a year (median $112,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Lower: $70,000 a year · Upper: $150,000 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Registered Nurses: 36,291 at the 2018 Census and 45,246 at the 2023 Census (+24.7%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 10,000 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Registered Nurses, 88% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Registered Nurses work (2023 Census): Auckland 28.6%, Canterbury 14.8%, and Wellington 10.3%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a clinical nurse specialist?

How much does a clinical nurse specialist earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $112,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $91,000 to $131,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a clinical nurse specialist grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a clinical nurse specialist?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026