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Nurse Practitioners

  • Bright Outlook
  • Rapid Growth

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.

What you’d do

  • 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.

Skills that matter

  • Active Listening
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Critical Thinking
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Active Learning
  • Judgment and Decision Making

How to get there

Extensive preparation: most need graduate school, such as a master's degree or higher

Also called

  • ACNP (Acute Care Nurse Practitioner)
  • Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
  • Gastroenterology Nurse Practitioner
  • Nurse Practitioner (NP)
  • Adult Nurse Practitioner
  • Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN)

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