Health care offers a number of attractive career paths for several reasons. As an essentially recession-proof industry—people are always going to require medical care—there is consistent demand for workers. In addition, many jobs in the field pay relatively well. And finally, there are a growing number of opportunities to work in health care, especially as the U.S. population ages and requires more care.
How to become an advanced nurse practitioner
BY Sam BeckerOctober 26, 2022, 10:53 AM
Illustration by Martin Laksman
Nurse practitioners, a subset within the broader nursing category, is the fastest-growing occupation in the U.S. The number of positions for nurse practitioners is expected to grow 46% between 2021 and 2031, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The pay is pretty good, too, with median salaries for nurse practitioners amounting to nearly $121,000 in 2021.
Nurse practitioners generally provide primary, acute, or specialty care in clinics and doctor’s offices around the country. There’s a good chance, in fact, that you’ll end up seeing a nurse practitioner the next time you make a doctor’s appointment. Nurse practitioners are a type of advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), and they may work in hospitals, clinics, or private practices—often in supervisory roles or as health care specialists. Other types of APRNs include nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists.
If you’re interested in becoming an advanced practice nurse, as with most APRN roles, you’ll need the proper type of education, experience, and credentials. And that’s true whether you’re making a career switch or you’re already working in another nursing role. Here’s a rundown of the process:
- Get a degree
- Choose a specialization
- Gain experience
- Get certified and licensed
- Keep your credentials up-to-date
1. Get a degree
To break into advanced nursing roles, you will first need an advanced nursing degree, such as a master’s degree in nursing. “An advanced nurse practitioner is a nurse who has a bachelor’s degree, has completed an accredited graduate-level education, and who has prepared for the role of a nurse practitioner,” says Mary Molloy, clinical assistant professor of nursing at the School of Nursing and Allied Health at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
“For advanced practice nurses, there are different types of education or preparation levels,” she adds. Deciding which level will depend on your career ambitions, such as the specific population that you want to work with, Molloy says.
2. Choose a specialization
Advanced practice nurses can and do work in all sorts of roles and in all sorts of settings, including hospitals, clinics, and even independent practices. Some may work in policy or education, too. That means you will need to choose a specialization. Many master’s degree programs in nursing offer the following nurse practitioner tracks: family nurse practitioner (FNP), adult-gerontology nurse practitioner (A-GNP), and women’s health nurse practitioner (WHNP).
Your choice of specialty will dictate your career path and what types of courses you take. For example, Fairleigh Dickinson students who plan to work with older adults should focus their master’s degree studies in the adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioners specialty, rather than the psychiatric or mental health specialty, Molloy says.
The ability to practice independently and serve small, often rural communities also opens many doors, as there are numerous towns across the country that are hours away from the nearest clinic or hospital. And while advanced practice nurses aren’t full-fledged doctors, they can provide those communities with valuable and potentially lifesaving care.
“The opportunities are vast,” says Carla Gross, chair of nursing and associate dean at North Dakota State University’s nursing program. “There’s not another career where you can work in so many different facilities and roles. In advanced practice nursing it’s also so satisfying because you can provide care independently,” she adds.
3. Gain experience
A critical component of becoming any type of advanced practice registered nurse is to get face time with the population you plan to serve, and that’s the focus of many, if not most nursing programs across the country. For instance, students at North Dakota State University’s School of Nursing spend more than 1,000 hours with patients over the course of three years to earn a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree, says Dean Gross, program director and assistant professor of practice at NDSU in Fargo.
Students go through graduate core courses, practice core courses, and courses related to their specialty—and then most students at NDSU end up spending time working directly with patients in rural areas. They also conduct a special research project in clinical settings in an effort to improve care and field-test new ideas. “It’s all designed to advance the practice, and the goal is to improve nurse practitioner knowledge and advance care for patients,” he says.
4. Get certified and licensed
After earning a degree and getting some on-the-job experience, prospective advanced practice nurses need to get certified and licensed. That first means passing a certification test—and the specific test will depend on what field or specialization you have chosen. Nurse anesthetists, for example, need to be certified through the National Board of Certification & Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists. Nurse midwives, on the other hand, get theirs through the American Midwifery Certification Board.
After certification, you’ll need to investigate what state licenses are required. “Depending on the state you plan to practice in, you’ll need to be registered with that state, and obtain any necessary licenses,” Molloy says. And there could be even more necessary licenses, as well. “If you need to prescribe narcotics, you may need to take a course in dangerous controlled substances to be able to have the DEA license—and malpractice insurance,” she adds.
Again, certifications and licensure will depend on specifics: What segment of the population are you working with? Where are you practicing? And how are you practicing?
5. Keep your credentials up-to-date
The path to becoming an advanced practice nurse could take up to eight years, including the time required to earn a bachelor’s degree, a graduate degree, obtain work experience, and finally get the proper certifications and licenses.
It’s important to keep in mind that with advanced nursing roles, you will likely need to renew your certifications and make sure you’re well versed in what’s new and noteworthy in the field. “You may need to earn continuing education credits, publish articles, or speak at conferences to prove you’re staying up-to-date with current guidelines,” Molloy says, and look at getting your certifications renewed every five years.
Despite the substantial educational, training, and licensing requirements, Molloy thinks that students should “go for it” if they have an interest in advanced practice nursing. “It’s not just a means of advancing themselves,” she says. “It’s also going to advance the nursing profession.”
See how the schools you’re considering fared in Fortune’s rankings of the best master’s degree programs in data science (in-person and online), nursing, computer science, cybersecurity, psychology, public health, and business analytics, as well as doctorate in education programs and MBA programs (part-time, executive, full-time, and online).
