Nurse Practitioner
Nurse Practitioner
Career Overview
Nurse practitioners (NPs) are advanced practice nurses who assess patients, diagnose and treat health conditions, order and interpret tests, prescribe medications where authorized, and provide preventive and ongoing care. NPs can work in primary care or specialize in areas such as family health, pediatrics, mental health, women's health, adult health, acute care, or other clinical areas. NPs increasingly use electronic health records, telehealth, clinical decision-support tools, medical data, and other healthcare technologies to help deliver patient care.
Education
To become a nurse practitioner, you first become a registered nurse (RN) by completing an approved nursing program. You then gain nursing experience and complete a graduate-level nurse practitioner program, followed by the certification and licensing required where you plan to work. The full pathway typically takes at least 6–8 years after high school, depending on the program and location. * High school → nursing program → RN → graduate NP program → licensing/certification → Nurse Practitioner.
Work Environment
Nurse practitioners work in hospitals, medical clinics, physicians' offices, community health centres, long-term-care facilities, mental-health settings, schools, and other healthcare environments. Some work independently where regulations allow it, while others work as part of a healthcare team with physicians, nurses, specialists, and other professionals. Telehealth and digital healthcare are also expanding how NPs provide care.
Future Outlook
Nurse practitioners have an excellent career outlook. Demand is being driven by growing healthcare needs, aging populations, chronic conditions, and the expanding role of advanced practice nurses in delivering primary, specialty, acute, and preventive care.
Recommended High School Courses
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Psychology
- Math
- English
- Health science
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Operations Analysis - Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Memorization - The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Perceptual Speed - The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Speed of Closure - The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Diagnose medical conditions.
- Treat acute illnesses, infections, or injuries.
- Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment.
- Prescribe medications.
- Prescribe treatments or therapies.
- Train patients, family members, or caregivers in techniques for managing disabilities or illnesses.
- Operate diagnostic imaging equipment.
- Order medical diagnostic or clinical tests.
- Record patient medical histories.
- Develop medical treatment plans.
- Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
- Monitor patient conditions during treatments, procedures, or activities.
- Maintain medical or professional knowledge.
- Advise patients on effects of health conditions or treatments.
- Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.
- Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
- Communicate detailed medical information to patients or family members.
- Treat chronic diseases or disorders.
- Treat medical emergencies.
- Schedule patient procedures or appointments.
- Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
- Supervise patient care personnel.
- Advise patients on healthcare system processes.
- Follow protocols or regulations for healthcare activities.
- Apply bandages, dressings, or splints.
- Immunize patients.
Schools
Baylor University
Columbia University - Ny...
D’youville College
Liberty University
University Of California-...
University Of Maryland -...
University Of Pennsylvani...
University Of Rochester
Vanderbilt University
Walden University
Lakehead University- O...
Mcgill University
University Of Alberta
University Of Northern...
University Of Toronto-...
University Of Victoria
Western University
Approx Salary Expectation
Low End:
$101,000.00 /yr
Avg/Med:
$132,000.00 /yr
High End:
$174,000.00 /yr
Related Careers
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.