NP 101: What Does a Nurse Practitioner Do, Workplace, Salary, & More
Nurses are an important part of the jigsaw puzzle that is the medical staff of a healthcare facility. As such, each of them plays a different role and works to fit perfectly into this bigger picture, in order to offer the best healthcare services to patients. Nurse practitioners bear important responsibilities and duties in patient care. If this career path interests you or rather you just want to know more about the role of the nurse practitioner, further we will elaborate on their job description, duties, work environment, salary, education and training, specializations, and more.
What Is a Nurse Practitioner?
Together with nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives, nurse practitioners (NPs) are a type of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). These types of nurses are qualified to assess, diagnose, and oversee patient problems, order testing, and prescribe medications. Their scope of practice varies from state to state, but in general, they have more autonomy in comparison to registered nurses (RNs) and licensed vocational nurses.
Nurse practitioners are, therefore, nurses who provide primary and specialty care. They typically work with a certain population of patients, such as adult and geriatric health, pediatrics, psychiatric and mental health patients. They work either alongside a doctor or independently, depending on whether they have full practice authority in their state.
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Duties & Responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities of NPs vary depending on the facility in which they practice, together with their specialization and practice authority. However, the typical nurse practitioner’s duties include some of the following:
Recording patient histories and ensuring they reflect all relevant information such as symptoms, treatments, and any prescribed medications..
Performing physical examinations to evaluate patients’ health and diagnose any illnesses.
Ordering diagnostic tests and evaluating test results to determine causes and diagnoses of health problems.
Determining and initiating treatments, monitoring how patients respond to it, and making adjustments to the treatment if necessary.
Prescribing and dispensing medications and treatment.
Operating and monitoring medical equipment.
Advising, educating, and instructing patients in practicing preventative health care methods.
Consulting with physicians or other health care providers when needed in order to create treatment plans and diagnose patients with a difficult set of symptoms.
Keeping up to date with medical trends and conducting research.
Workplace
Now that we have established their scope of work, many people wonder where NPs work due to their degree of independence. Do nurse practitioners work in hospitals? Can they have their own independent practice? In fact, their workplaces cover a variety of healthcare settings. Some of them include:
Hospitals (emergency rooms, other patient areas, outpatient clinics)
Community clinics and healthcare centers
Physicians’ offices
Patients’ homes
In states where they have full authority by practice regulations, NPs also have the legal authority to operate in private practices without the supervision of physicians.
Salary
Due to their more advanced duties and specialization in comparison to RNs, nurse practitioners earn more as well. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), which include NPs, have a median annual salary of $117,670. The lowest 10 percent of APRNs earn less than $84,120, whereas the highest-earning 10 percent earn more than $190,900.
Salaries can vary depending on the nurse practitioner’s workplace as well. BLS lists hospitals as the highest paying place of work for APRNs at an annual $124,660 salary. Outpatient care centers come second with a $122,840 salary; physicians’ offices pay a median of $114,570, offices of other health practitioners pay $111,610, and $111,400 for educational services.
How to Become a Nurse Practitioner
Considering that nurse practitioners are advanced practice registered nurses, becoming one requires more extensive education and training in comparison to entry-level roles in nursing. If you’re considering becoming an NP, one thing to note is that there are typically two pathways: the traditional one and the direct entry pathway.
Traditional pathway
The traditional pathway to becoming a nurse practitioner includes primarily completing a bachelor’s (BSN), an associate’s (ASN), or a master’s degree in nursing (MSN). Aspiring nurse practitioners who choose this pathway and graduate from an undergraduate degree program must take the NCLEX-RN exam in order to become a state certified RN. Although not mandatory, most will typically work as RNs for a period of time, to then complete the necessary requirements for becoming a nurse practitioner.
After graduating from a registered nursing program, the required education for NPs is either a master's (MSN-NP) or doctoral NP-focused program (DNP). The master’s program typically takes 30 to 36 months full time to complete, whereas the RN to doctorate candidate programs typically take 3 to 4 years full time. These programs offer specializations in various areas of nursing which we will elaborate further in the article.
Upon graduation from a nurse practitioner program, graduates undergo a national certification examination in order to practice as NP. There are two exams available:
The AANP exam with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as the certifying board and
The ANCC exam with the American Nurses Credentialing Center as the governing body.
Direct Entry Pathway
The direct entry pathway is designed for students who hold a bachelor’s degree in another field of study and wish to earn a graduate degree in nursing. Direct entry programs are usually 3 to 5 years long and include taking both the NCLEX-RN exam to become a certified registered nurse and also completing a master’s or doctoral program to become a certified NP.
After this program, you will also have to enter one of the certification exams that graduates from the traditional pathway undergo.
Specialization
One of the best things about being a nurse practitioner is that you get to decide on a specialty area in which you prefer working in. The wide range of specializations for nursing practice includes:
Primary care
Acute care
Women’s health
Neonatal
Emergency
Pediatric acute
Pediatric primary
Psychiatric & mental health
Surgery
These were some of the crucial details on the role that nurse practitioners have in the healthcare field. This is a rewarding career path, with plenty of opportunities for autonomy and making a difference for your patients. Often, patients will turn to NPs first due to their satisfaction with treatment and the relationships they foster. Therefore, it is safe to say that becoming an NP will be more than a gratifying journey.