Nurse practitioners are healthcare professionals that are in high demand throughout the modern healthcare industry for a variety of different reasons. With fewer medical students going into primary care, nurse-led primary care is becoming the new normal. The role of a nurse practitioner is one that many nurses will aspire to as it has a range of different benefits. Not only do nurse practitioners earn higher salaries compared to registered nurses, but they also have more autonomy and responsibility, particularly in the twenty states where nurse practitioners are afforded full practice authority, meaning that they are able to diagnose, prescribe medication and provide treatment to patients without the supervision of a primary care doctor or other advanced healthcare professional. 

What is a Nurse Practitioner?

Nurse practitioners are advanced nursing professionals. To work in this role, you will need to earn an advanced nursing degree such as a master’s of science in nursing. You may also need to get a postgraduate certificate that is designed to prepare you for the role of nurse practitioner in your chosen specialty area. Nurse practitioners are provided with a high level of advanced training in order for them to be prepared for a role where they are responsible for many of the same tasks and decisions as a primary care physician. Nurse practitioners work as either primary or specialty care providers. Family nurse practitioners tend to work in a similar way as a primary care physician, while other nurse practitioners focus on specific patient populations or conditions. These include pediatric, psychiatric mental health, adult-gerontology, and neo-natal nurse practitioners. 

What are the Roles and Responsibilities of a Nurse Practitioner?

Nurse practitioners tend to have many more responsibilities compared to registered nurses. In the states where nurse practitioners are awarded full practice authority, this allows them to run their own practices without the need for their decisions to be signed off by a medical physician. Ultimately, unlike registered nurses, this means that nurse practitioners are free to start and run their own clinic either providing primary care or care for patients that fall under their area of specialization. Nurse practitioners may also be found working in a range of other healthcare settings and environments including retail clinics, doctor’s offices, outpatient clinics, hospitals, urgent care centers and more. 

How Much Does a Nurse Practitioner Earn?

Compared to registered nurses, nurse practitioners tend to earn significantly more – on average, around $30k per year more than an RN. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary for a nurse practitioner is around $115k. However, this can vary between states and nurse practitioners who are working in states where there is a higher demand for this role can often expect to earn even more. 

How to Become a Nurse Practitioner

If you are interested in a career as a nurse practitioner, there are several steps to take in order to climb the nursing career ladder into this role. 

  • Become a Registered Nurse

The first step to becoming a nurse practitioner is to qualify as a registered nurse, which typically involves earning a BSN and passing the NCLEX exam. A BSN is recommended as the minimum undergraduate degree program for registered nurses who are planning to work as a nurse practitioner in the future since this is typically the minimum entry requirement for nursing master’s degree programs and nurse practitioner postgraduate training programs. 

  • Getting a BSN

If you want to get started in your nursing career with a BSN as the best option for becoming a nurse practitioner in the future, there are several options to consider to help you get there. Today, one of the more popular options for student nurses is to study online for the BSN, since this is a more flexible option that will allow you to manage your time better, study from the comfort of your home and avoid many of the associated costs that often come along with attending nursing school like commuting. While you will usually need to be there in-person to attend clinical practice classes and gain the on-the-job experience that all student nurses need before they will be able to start working in this career, the majority of classes and lectures can be taken online, meaning that there’s less for you to commit to in-person, making it easier for you to fit your nursing education around other commitments such as working full-time. 

  • Accelerated BSN Programs

If you already have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree and want to change your career to nursing with the aim of eventually working as a nurse practitioner, accelerated BSN programs could be the ideal option for you. ABSN programs are designed for those who already hold a bachelor’s degree and are looking to change to a nursing career. Typically, they will take around half the time you would expect a traditional BSN to take, which can make it quicker, easier and cheaper for you to change your career to nursing and get started with working towards your new role as a nurse practitioner. 

  • Nursing Experience

Once you have qualified as a registered nurse and passed the NCLEX exam, you will usually need to get at least a few years of experience as a nurse before you will be considered for enrolment on family nurse practitioner programs and nursing master’s degree programs. Since the role of a nurse practitioner is quite advanced, registered nurses who have a few years of experience in this role in a range of different healthcare settings tend to be preferred over others, so it’s worth using your time working as a registered nurse to get as much experience as possible working in different healthcare environments and with a diverse range of different patients. Not only will this prepare you for the training and work as a nurse practitioner, but it can help you figure out which parts of nursing you prefer over the others, giving you information to use when it comes to choosing future specialty areas and more. 

  • Graduate Nursing Degrees

To work as a nurse practitioner, you will typically be required to have earned a postgraduate qualification such as a master’s degree in nursing. To enroll on these programs, you will usually need to have a minimum of a BSN and, in some cases, a certain amount of nursing experience. You can find master’s degree programs that are tailored to prepare you for the specific role of working as a nurse practitioner in the future, or master’s programs that are more general, with the option to take more specialist training options in the future to prepare yourself for the nurse practitioner role. 

  • Post Masters Nurse Practitioner Training

If you decide to take the route of getting a general master’s degree in nursing, you may be required to undergo post-masters nurse practitioner training before you will be qualified to work in this role. Post-masters training programs designed for nurse practitioners such as this post masters FNP certificate online are designed for master’s-educated nurses and include everything that you will need to succeed in the role of a nurse practitioner, including preparation for the state exam that you will need to pass to work in this role. 

The Skills You Need to Succeed as a Nurse Practitioner

Alongside the advanced education that is required of you to become a nurse practitioner, these professionals need a unique skill-set in order to succeed in this role. Some of the main skills that nurse practitioners need to demonstrate in the day-to-day work involved in their career include:

  • Communication Skills

Nurse practitioners are required to be excellent communicators. One main communication skill that any good nurse practitioner needs to possess is active listening skills, which they will use when treating patients. Active listening is a crucial part of good healthcare communication and making sure that patients are accurately diagnosed and given the treatment that they need. In addition to regular communication with patients, nurse practitioners need to have excellent communication skills when working with other healthcare professionals, since they often work as part of multi-disciplinary teams including doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers to make sure that patients have access to the level of care that they require. 

  • Critical Thinking

Good critical thinking and decision-making skills are absolutely essential in order for somebody to be successful in the role of a nurse practitioner. Nurse practitioners will need to be able to think critically in many different areas of this job, especially when it comes to treating patients and making decisions on their behalf. Depending on the setting where the nurse practitioner is working, it can often be very much like registered nursing in that things can change at any moment and nurse practitioners need to be able to think crucially while staying calm under pressure and making the right decision in the best interest of the patient. 

  • Empathy

Empathy is a crucial quality that every good nurse practitioner needs to have. Patients will often see a nurse practitioner as a first port of call when they need help with their health and wellbeing since an increasing number of nurse practitioners are now working as primary healthcare providers. These healthcare professionals need to be able to empathize and put themselves in the patient’s shoes. A good nurse practitioner is somebody who is able to imagine how their patient must be feeling in that moment and treat them accordingly. Along with a high level of empathy, the best nurse practitioners are genuinely compassionate people who really care about others and want to understand so that they can offer the best help and support to the people in their care. 

  • Adaptability

Throughout the career path of a nurse practitioner, the ability to adapt is going to be a skill that these professionals use time and time again. Not only are many nurse practitioners constantly adapting to changing situations throughout their day-to-day work, but they must also need to adapt to changes in the wider healthcare industry and system as a whole. No two days are going to be the same in the role of a nurse practitioner, and it’s important for nurse practitioners to be able to keep up with the latest developments in healthcare including the discovery of new diseases and treatments, new technological advancements, new best practices and more as the healthcare industry is continuously improved. 

  • Attention to Detail

Nurse practitioners are often counted on to make the best decisions on behalf of their patients. In twenty US states, they are trusted completely to do this without the need for them to get supervision or a sign-off from a primary care physician, which means that these professionals need to be people who pay close attention to detail and often notice details that others might overlook. No matter which specialty area you decide to work in as a nurse practitioner, being observant and paying keen attention to detail is an absolutely crucial part of being successful in this role. 

  • Willingness to Learn

Last but not least, the best person for a role as a nurse practitioner will be an individual who is always willing to learn new things and demonstrates a strong dedication to self-improvement in their professional and personal life. As a nurse practitioner, you will need to be open to the opportunity to learn new things since there will always be something new around the corner for you to master. If you speak to anybody in the nursing field who has worked in their role for several years, they will tell you that things are certainly not the same now compared to when they first started out. The ability and willingness to constantly improve your knowledge and become an expert in new developments is key to success for nurse practitioners, who are often found at the forefront of the newest and latest advancements in healthcare and health technology. 

If you are considering an advanced healthcare role where you can help others, advocate for patients and change the healthcare industry for the better, working as a nurse practitioner could be a good fit for you.