I agree that it is time that the Virginia Board of Nursing ammend the regulations to grant Clinical Nurse Specialist the recognition of Advanced Practice Nurse status. Many of the CNS's in my home site have attained the DNP status through hard work and dedication to the job. Our desire  is to remain focused on the patient and maintain a strong education component to our practice. As the need for patient understanding of directions (whether medicines, treatments, services, etc.) increases in the current health care focus it is imperative that the CNS be recognized as providing this invaluable service. Nursing has been recognized by the community for the service that individuals provide and as a group the CNS practitioners need to be recognized as a peer with other Advanced Practice Nurses as more of us work collaboratively with medical and health care professionals meeting unique needs for our patient population. Thank you for your consideration.