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
Per year, OEWS May 2025
People employed
323,040
United States, OEWS May 2025
Projected change
41%
2025-2035 projection
Projected openings
29,400
Average per year, 2025-2035
Pay distribution and location comparison
These are published pay distribution points for everyone working in this occupation, not pay levels for junior, mid, or senior roles. Location figures are pay as published; no cost-of-living adjustment is applied.
United States, all industries
$101,34010th
$117,99025th
$132,300Median
$156,70075th
$174,42090th
National pay distribution and the selected area, annual wages
Pay point
United States
Selected area
10th percentile
$101,340
-
25th percentile
$117,990
-
Median
$132,300
-
75th percentile
$156,700
-
90th percentile
$174,420
-
People employed
323,040
-
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Reference period: OEWS May 2025.
Long-term outlook
Official ten-year projection for 2025 to 2035. Projected annual openings are an average per year over the decade, including openings from workers leaving the occupation. They are not a count of jobs open today.
Employment 2025
336,300 jobs
Projected 2035
474,100 jobs
Change
41%
2025-2035
Openings per year
29,400
Decade average, in people
Typical entry education
Master's degree
Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Employment is published in thousands of jobs and converted here to people.
OptimizeResume Job Market Score™
68
Strong
Stable
Confidence:High
Reference period:Jul 2026
OptimizeResume analysis using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This is not a BLS statistic or a prediction that an individual will be hired.
Current Demand50%
47
Occupation Fundamentals30%
92
Long-Term Outlook20%
83
Score trend
Historical scores may be restated when BLS revises underlying data. The chart uses the latest restated values.
3 months
+1
6 months
-2
Confidence
At least 90% of required inputs and occupation-industry mapping are covered.
How this score is built
Monthly industry demand is mapped to this occupation using official occupation-industry relationships, then combined with occupation fundamentals and long-term projections.
Skill values are O*NET importance ratings on a 1-5 scale for the occupation itself. They describe what the work requires, not how much employers are hiring right now.
Most important skills
Active Listening4.1 / 5
Complex Problem Solving4.1 / 5
Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.1 / 5
Active Learning4.0 / 5
Judgment and Decision Making4.0 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5
Social Perceptiveness4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Writing4.0 / 5
Service Orientation3.9 / 5
Coordination3.8 / 5
O*NET importance rating, 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Software and technology
Medical softwareeClinicalWorks EHR software (hot technology), Epic Systems (hot technology), MEDITECH software (hot technology), Allscripts Professional EHR, Amkai AmkaiCharts, Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR
Internet browser softwareMicrosoft Internet Explorer, Web browser software
Data base user interface and query softwareMicrosoft Access (hot technology)
Word processing softwareMicrosoft Word (hot technology)
O*NET marks individual examples only. “Hot technology” means the tool is frequently named across job postings generally; “in demand for this occupation” means O*NET recorded it as required by employers for this occupation. Unmarked examples are still commonly used.
Typical 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.
Also advertised as: 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).
Check your resume against a real job posting
This page describes the occupation in general. A free scan compares your own resume with the specific job description you are applying to, requirement by requirement, and shows where your real experience is already strong and where it is simply not documented yet. Only experience you actually have should ever be added.
Source: O*NET Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Used under CC BY 4.0. OptimizeResume has modified the data for display only: selected the most important rated skills, grouped software examples by category while keeping each example’s official flags, and shortened the task list.
Related occupations
Occupations O*NET lists as closely related. Links go to our page when we cover that occupation, otherwise to the official O*NET profile.
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
O*NET 31.0 Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0 and modified for display on this page. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
How each number should be read
Pay percentiles describe the spread of pay across everyone in the occupation, not experience levels.
Employment counts are jobs, not people hired during the year.
Projected annual openings are a decade average from the official projection, not current vacancies.
O*NET skill ratings describe the work, not employer hiring demand.
Values BLS did not publish, suppressed, or top-coded are shown as such and never treated as zero.