Since 2020, the American Nurses Association has recognized five new nurse specialties, but hospitals and health systems vary in how quickly and how they put them into practice.
When the ANA recognizes a specialty, it acknowledges an organized body of nursing knowledge and establishes a professional framework through the specialty’s scope and standards of practice, Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, RN, president of the ANA, told Becker’s.
The newest nurse specialties are: Patient blood management nursing — June 17, 2026, with the Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management; Men’s health nursing — Feb. 26, 2026, with the American Association for Men in Nursing; Cannabis nursing — Sept. 27, 2023, with the American Cannabis Nurses Association; Burn nursing — Aug. 12, 2020, with the American Burn Association; Travel health nursing — March 4, 2020, with the American Travel Health Nurses Association.
What new specialties mean for hospitals
ANA standards can help health systems develop roles, support education, evaluate practice and strengthen career pathways, as well as provide a foundation for identifying nursing expertise, improving care coordination and supporting high-quality, safe care, Dr. Mensik Kennedy said.
Although they inform organizational planning, standards do not prescribe a particular staffing structure, service model or approach, she said. Hospitals remain responsible for figuring out how these specialty nurses best fit amid patient and community needs to determine where they may strengthen care. Discussions should include nurses, she added.
“The decision to integrate a specialty should reflect the organization’s care delivery model, workforce needs, applicable laws and regulations, and available resources,” she said. “Organizations should also ensure that nurses have the education, mentoring, time, and other resources needed to practice safely and effectively. Specialty responsibilities should be implemented as a supported practice change — not added to an already full assignment without appropriate role clarity, preparation or resources.”
“Recognition alone is not the outcome,” Dr. Mensik Kennedy said. She encouraged hospitals and health systems to help nurses use their specialty expertise in ways that benefit patients, the workforce and the community.
How hospitals are implementing new specialties
In many cases, the ANA’s specialty recognition is formalizing what nurses have been doing at the bedside for years.
“For example, our clinicians have managed patient blood conservation and burn care for years,” Connie Clemmons-Brown, DNP, RN, system senior vice president of patient care services at Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, told Becker’s. “However, official recognition moves these practices from informal, localized expertise to a nationally defined scope of practice. Concurrently, it opens the door to new care delivery models and gives us a standardized framework to train nurses on drug interactions, patient education and advocacy.”
CommonSpirit can use ANA designations to build formal competencies, update job descriptions and design clinical ladders, Dr. Clemmons-Brown said. Once a national board certification exists for a specialty, nurses can earn pay differentials and higher clinical titles by achieving it. Dedicated specialty tracks also help attract nurses looking for defined career pathways, she said.
How long it takes to implement a new nurse specialty depends on the hospital. Of the six health systems Becker’s contacted, one said it has not had enough time to determine how it would use nurses in these new specialties.
At CommonSpirit, local implementation depends on the clinical needs of the community and the services provided at each facility, Dr. Clemmons-Brown said.
What specialties should ANA recognize next?
Dr. Clemmons-Brown said she would like the ANA to consider recognizing two more nurse specialties: virtual and hospital-at-home nursing, which she said requires distinct assessment, technology and triage skills beyond traditional telehealth, and health equity nursing, where nurses focus on barriers to care such as food insecurity, housing and transportation.
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