Background <p>It’s widely acknowledged that students pursuing the Master of Nursing Specialist (MNS) degree must be equipped with adequate clinical competency to be qualified for clinical nursing practice. However, there is a lack of a clear definition for clinical competency and its primary components for MNS students. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore and explain the clinical competencies of MNS students.</p> Methods <p>Purposive sampling was employed to select participants to participate in the semi-structured interviews. This study was conducted in 7 Chinese hospitals with 21 individuals (13 MNS graduates and 8 nursing experts). The concepts were derived from content analysis after recording and transcribing the interviews.</p> Results <p>For MNS students, the concept of clinical competency was multidimensional, with eleven main categories: evaluation and observation of the medical condition, prediction of disease progression, clinical operational skill, health education and health promotion, documentation of medical treatment and nursing records, communication and cooperation, administration, promotion of professional development, self-development, knowledge of law and ethics, and personal traits.</p> Conclusion <p>The present study examined the multifaceted nature of clinical competency for MNS students. Having a comprehensive understanding of its core components provides nursing educators with guidance in developing clinical competency training programs and enhancing the attainment of clinical competency among MNS students.</p>