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Opinion of Stevens, J.
supervisory employees.' " Id., at 53a (quoting Chicago Metallic Corp., 273 N. L. R. B. 1677, 1688 (1985)). He did, however, exclude from the bargaining unit 10 specific supervisors including the nursing coordinator. App. to Pet. for Cert. 54a.
Over the dissent of Judge Jones, the Court of Appeals set aside the Board's order. The panel majority first criticized the Board for ignoring its "repeated admonition" that the NLRB " 'has the burden of proving that employees are not supervisors.' " Id., at 15a. After acknowledging that "whether an employee is a supervisor is a highly fact-intensive inquiry," that majority concluded that the RNs' duties as building supervisors involved "independent judgment which is not limited to, or inherent in, the professional training of nurses." Id., at 16a-19a. The panel majority also criticized the NLRB for interpreting the admittedly ambiguous statutory term "independent judgment" inconsistently with Sixth Circuit precedent.2
II
Although it is not necessary to do so to overturn the Court of Appeals' decision, the NLRB has asked us to reject the Sixth Circuit's interpretation of the term "independent judgment." In contrast to the Sixth Circuit, the NLRB interprets the term "independent judgment" as not including the exercise of ordinary professional or technical judgment in directing less-skilled employees to deliver services in accordance with employer-specified standards.3 Provi-2 "According to NLRB interpretations, the practice of a nurse supervising a nurse's aide in administering patient care, for example, does not involve 'independent judgment.' The NLRB classifies these activities as 'routine' because the nurses have the ability to direct patient care by virtue of their training and expertise, not because of their connection with 'management.' " Id., at 17a.
3 Oddly, the majority in this Court omits one element—namely, " 'in accordance with employer-specified standards.' " Ante, at 715-716. In so
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