Healthcare practitioners
Nurse practitioner
Diagnose and treat acute, episodic, or chronic illness, independently or as part of a healthcare team. May focus on health promotion and disease prevention. May order, perform, or interpret diagnostic tests such as lab work and x rays. May prescribe medication. Must be registered nurses who have specialized graduate education.
Median pay
$132,300
Growth to 2035
+41%
much faster than average
Openings a year
29,400
Time to qualify*
5.9 years
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Nurse practitioner
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
- On-the-job training
- None
- Prior experience
- None
- Required
- NCLEX-RN exam · NP board certification (AANP or ANCC) · State APRN license
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Hazardous conditions
Exposure to disease
Nurse practitioner: 52% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Maintain complete and detailed records of patients' health care plans and prognoses.
- Develop treatment plans, based on scientific rationale, standards of care, and professional practice guidelines.
- Provide patients with information needed to promote health, reduce risk factors, or prevent disease or disability.
- Analyze and interpret patients' histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses.
- Diagnose or treat complex, unstable, comorbid, episodic, or emergency conditions in collaboration with other health care providers as necessary.
- Prescribe medication dosages, routes, and frequencies, based on such patient characteristics as age and gender.
- Diagnose or treat chronic health care problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
- Prescribe medications based on efficacy, safety, and cost as legally authorized.
Also called: ACNP (Acute Care Nurse Practitioner) · Adult Nurse Practitioner · Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) · ARNP Specialist (Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner Specialist) · Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) · Family Practice Certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner · Gastroenterology Nurse Practitioner · Nurse Practitioner (NP)
Outlook and AI
Nurse practitioners held 336,300 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 474,100 by 2035 (+41%, much faster than average; all jobs: +3.5%).
Occupational substitution, demand change - share increases as nurse practitioners are increasingly employed in team-based models of care, taking on tasks previously performed by physicians. Expanding practice authority is expected to support employment demand further.