Occupation · SOC 29-1171
Nurse Practitioners
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 wage
$129,210
$97,960–$169,950
Projected growth
+40.1%
Faster than average
Annual openings
12,840
per year
Employed (US)
307,390
Job Zone 5
Typical preparation
Extensive preparation
Stackable credential programs
805 mapped
Core skills
Complex Problem SolvingActive ListeningCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionMonitoringSocial PerceptivenessActive LearningWriting
Knowledge areas
Medicine and DentistryEnglish LanguageBiologyPsychologyCustomer and Personal Service
Technology & tools
Medical softwareData base user interface and query softwareSpreadsheet softwareInternet browser softwareOffice suite software
Representative 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.Recommend diagnostic or therapeutic interventions with attention to safety, cost, invasiveness, simplicity, acceptability, adherence, and efficacy.Detect and respond to adverse drug reactions, with special attention to vulnerable populations such as infants, children, pregnant and lactating women, or older adults.Diagnose or treat acute health care problems, such as illnesses, infections, or injuries.Counsel patients about drug regimens and possible side effects or interactions with other substances, such as food supplements, over-the-counter (OTC) medications, or herbal remedies.Order, perform, or interpret the results of diagnostic tests, such as complete blood counts (CBCs), electrocardiograms (EKGs), and radiographs (x-rays).Educate patients about self-management of acute or chronic illnesses, tailoring instructions to patients' individual circumstances.Maintain current knowledge of state legal regulations for nurse practitioner practice, including reimbursement of services.Consult with, or refer patients to, appropriate specialists when conditions exceed the scope of practice or expertise.Recommend interventions to modify behavior associated with health risks.Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.Treat or refer patients for primary care conditions, such as headaches, hypertension, urinary tract infections, upper respiratory infections, and dermatological conditions.Perform routine or annual physical examinations.Schedule follow-up visits to monitor patients or evaluate health or illness care.Maintain departmental policies and procedures in areas such as safety and infection control.Advocate for accessible health care that minimizes environmental health risks.Perform primary care procedures such as suturing, splinting, administering immunizations, taking cultures, and debriding wounds.Provide patients or caregivers with assistance in locating health care resources.Keep abreast of regulatory processes and payer systems, such as Medicare, Medicaid, managed care, and private sources.Supervise or coordinate patient care or support staff activities.
Competency framework
Skill expectations by proficiency level.
emerging
Patient health records — document initial care plans and baseline prognoses under the supervision of a preceptor in a primary care or acute care setting.Treatment plan components — identify and apply established standards of care and professional practice guidelines under direct clinical guidance.Patient health education materials — select and present foundational information to promote health and reduce risk factors under supervised practice.Patient histories and symptom data — collect, organize, and report clinical findings to a supervising provider for diagnostic review.Complex or comorbid patient presentations — recognize clinical indicators and escalate care needs appropriately to collaborative care team members.Medication dosages, routes, and frequencies — calculate and propose prescriptions based on patient age, gender, and weight under attending oversight.Chronic condition management protocols — apply evidence-based guidelines for conditions such as hypertension and diabetes under structured supervision.Electronic health record systems — enter, retrieve, and manage patient clinical data accurately using medical software platforms.Clinical diagnostic information — interpret basic laboratory and imaging results to support differential diagnosis development with preceptor guidance.Active listening and social perceptiveness skills — demonstrate during patient interviews to gather accurate subjective data in supervised clinical encounters.
developing
Comprehensive patient health care records — maintain detailed, accurate, and timely documentation of evolving care plans and prognoses with minimal supervisory review.Evidence-based treatment plans — develop and implement plans grounded in scientific rationale and current clinical guidelines across routine patient panels.Patient risk reduction counseling — deliver targeted health promotion and disease prevention education adapted to individual patient circumstances in outpatient settings.Patient histories, physical findings, and diagnostic data — analyze and synthesize independently to formulate appropriate diagnoses for stable and familiar case types.Episodic and acute conditions — diagnose and manage with growing confidence, coordinating with physicians or specialists when clinical complexity warrants.Prescription regimens — determine and authorize medication dosages, routes, and frequencies within full prescriptive authority, applying pharmacokinetic reasoning.Chronic disease management — monitor, adjust, and maintain longitudinal treatment for conditions such as diabetes and hypertension across a defined patient caseload.Clinical decision-support software and database tools — query and interpret resources to validate diagnostic and therapeutic decisions in routine practice.Time management and caseload prioritization — organize patient scheduling and care tasks efficiently across a full clinical day in a community health or specialty setting.Written clinical communication — produce clear referral letters, consultation summaries, and care coordination notes using word processing and office suite tools.
proficient
Complex, unstable, and comorbid patient presentations — diagnose and manage autonomously, leading collaborative care with physicians, specialists, and interdisciplinary teams.Individualized treatment plans — design and refine plans across the full scope of NP practice, integrating scientific rationale with patient-specific factors and cost considerations.Advanced patient education interventions — develop and execute tailored counseling strategies that address health literacy, behavioral risk factors, and chronic disease self-management.Comprehensive diagnostic reasoning — interpret multi-system clinical data, laboratory results, and imaging independently to generate accurate differential diagnoses for non-routine cases.Emergency and high-acuity conditions — assess, stabilize, and initiate evidence-based treatment under urgent conditions in emergency department or inpatient collaborative environments.Pharmacotherapy decisions — prescribe based on comparative efficacy, safety profiles, and formulary cost-effectiveness within full legal prescriptive authority across diverse patient populations.Longitudinal chronic disease programs — oversee and optimize population-level management of conditions such as heart failure and type 2 diabetes using outcomes monitoring and protocol adjustment.Inductive and deductive clinical reasoning — apply systematically to resolve ambiguous or rare presentations, drawing on biomedical science and clinical experience.Interprofessional coordination — lead care conferences and cross-disciplinary communication strategies to ensure seamless patient transitions across care settings.Clinical data analysis and reporting — use spreadsheet and database software to track patient outcomes, identify trends, and inform quality improvement actions.
advanced
Organizational clinical practice standards — establish and champion evidence-based protocols, prescribing policies, and care guidelines across a health system or large practice network.NP workforce development — mentor, precept, and design structured training programs that elevate clinical competency and professional practice for emerging and developing practitioners.Strategic treatment frameworks — lead system-wide adoption of advanced practice models that integrate scientific innovation, value-based care principles, and patient safety imperatives.Health promotion and population health initiatives — design and direct community or institutional programs targeting disease prevention, health equity, and measurable risk reduction outcomes.Diagnostic quality improvement — analyze aggregate diagnostic accuracy data and lead interdisciplinary initiatives to reduce error rates and optimize clinical decision-making across the organization.Prescribing governance and formulary leadership — guide organizational medication policies, controlled substance stewardship programs, and pharmacotherapy standards in alignment with regulatory requirements.Chronic disease center of excellence — build and lead multidisciplinary programs that set regional or national benchmarks for outcomes in complex chronic condition management.Executive-level clinical communication — represent the advanced practice nursing perspective in board-level discussions, policy negotiations, and accreditation processes using high-stakes oral and written communication.Health informatics strategy — direct the selection, implementation, and optimization of medical software, EHR platforms, and clinical decision-support systems to advance care delivery goals.Cross-sector collaboration and advocacy — influence legislative, regulatory, and professional bodies to expand NP scope of practice, improve patient access, and shape healthcare workforce policy.
Also known as
686 alternate job titles map to this occupation.
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