There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an adult nurse practitioner. For example, did you know that they make an average of $48.77 an hour? That's $101,447 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 26% and produce 62,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does an Adult Nurse Practitioner Do

There are certain skills that many adult nurse practitioners have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, leadership skills and communication skills.

Learn more about what an Adult Nurse Practitioner does

How To Become an Adult Nurse Practitioner

If you're interested in becoming an adult nurse practitioner, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 40.8% of adult nurse practitioners have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 44.0% of adult nurse practitioners have master's degrees. Even though most adult nurse practitioners have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Adult Nurse Practitioner Career Paths

Average Salary for an Adult Nurse Practitioner

Adult Nurse Practitioners in America make an average salary of $101,447 per year or $49 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $175,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $58,000 per year.
Average Adult Nurse Practitioner Salary
$101,447 Yearly
$48.77 hourly

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Roles and Types of Adult Nurse Practitioner

There are several types of adult nurse practitioner, including:

Nurse Practitioner

Role:

A nurse practitioner's role is vast. It centers around overseeing nurse workflow in a specific field and meting out prompt therapy and treatment to patients via a broad understanding and clinical skills. Coupled with the role of a nurse practitioner, you have to identify and carry out treatments in medical situations, conduct research and examinations through several tests, assess data and outcomes, and collate tests from patients. It is a part of your job requirement to be able to work with various forms of medical instruments. You must maintain effective communication and organization between your fellow health colleagues in a hospital or infirmary.

You must possess excellent leadership and analytical skills. You must also be able to display calmness under pressure and empathy for patients. Additionally, you must hold a bachelor's degree or a master's degree as desired by the employer. As a nurse practitioner, you should earn an average annual salary of $94,386 or $45.38 per hour. It ranges between $70,000 to $125,000.
  • Average Salary: $100,033
  • Degree: Master's Degree

Family Nurse Practitioner

Role:

A family nurse practitioner, or FNP for short, is a specialized nursing role providing preventative healthcare to families. They teach patients how to keep in good health and provide patient care in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Registered nurses may acquire this specialization by getting licensed and obtaining a certification.

Family nurses may work independently or alongside physicians or nurses. Sometimes they choose a specialization like midwifery, internal medicine, mental health services, or other areas.

The occupation of FNP is one of the most popular and higher-paid specialized nursing roles, with numerous job opportunities and a steady increase in demand predicted up until 2028. It is a flexible position that allows further branching out into related areas, such as healthcare management or medical research.
  • Average Salary: $100,541
  • Degree: Master's Degree

Practitioner

Role:

General practitioners, also called family doctors, provide nonsurgical medical care for a wide range of health issues. They add a personal touch to health care by establishing ongoing relationships with their patients while providing a continuity of care. General practitioners examine patients for illness or injury and plan treatment in the form of medicine or therapies. In addition to prescribing medications and therapies, they often educate patients on preventative healthcare, including proper diet and exercise.

To be successful as a practitioner, you should have excellent active listening and communication skills. You'll need to effectively address patient concerns as well. You'll frequently work with other physicians and support to collaborate on diagnoses and perform procedures and make referrals to appropriate medical specialists. Training to become a general practitioner generally takes from seven to 15 years.

If you'd like to become a general practitioner, you'll need a Bachelor's degree, preferably in a relevant science field, four years in medical school, a three to seven-year residency, and certification by the American Board of Family Medicine, American Board of General Practice, or American Board of Internal Medicine.
  • Average Salary: $84,058
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Adult Nurse Practitioner Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active adult nurse practitioner jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where adult nurse practitioners earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Adult Nurse Practitioner Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California1,129$106,910
2New York1,007$123,943
3Pennsylvania744$99,430
4Texas627$87,027
5Massachusetts505$115,376
6Washington390$106,590
7North Carolina345$82,888
8Florida315$78,650
9Illinois294$101,068
10New Jersey291$129,111
11Indiana269$93,282
12Maryland269$99,370
13Georgia268$84,887
14Ohio265$113,040
15Minnesota247$93,537
16Virginia240$93,563
17Connecticut232$133,401
18Oregon226$113,471
19Wisconsin195$94,098
20South Carolina194$75,567
21Tennessee188$76,660
22Arizona183$101,461
23Michigan162$100,132
24Maine151$107,017
25Missouri151$83,939
26Louisiana149$82,300
27Colorado132$90,730
28New Hampshire105$110,238
29Nevada99$106,080
30New Mexico88$95,692
31Iowa75$82,328
32Alabama74$74,521
33Arkansas73$79,126
34Kentucky69$77,146
35Oklahoma68$87,859
36Nebraska67$82,065
37Utah65$89,107
38Montana60$105,075
39Kansas58$79,099
40Alaska55$123,313
41Mississippi51$87,531
42Vermont50$100,296
43Rhode Island47$111,836
44West Virginia47$88,419
45Delaware38$109,075
46Idaho38$88,505
47South Dakota35$79,255
48North Dakota32$84,714
49Hawaii26$99,345
50Wyoming25$88,811

Adult Nurse Practitioner Education

Adult Nurse Practitioner Majors

85.9 %

Adult Nurse Practitioner Degrees

Masters

44.0 %

Bachelors

40.8 %

Associate

10.0 %

Top Colleges for Adult Nurse Practitioners

1. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Nursing
Economics
Psychology

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Biology
Business
Nursing
Economics

3. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,430

Enrollment

5,963

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Public Health
Nursing
Economics

4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Education
Kinesiology
Nursing

5. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Business
Nursing
Public Relations
Psychology

6. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Business
Economics
Psychology
Education

7. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

In-State Tuition

$17,653

Enrollment

16,405

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Biology
Business
Nursing
Psychology

8. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Psychology
Kinesiology
Economics

9. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Economics
Nursing
Public Health

10. Chamberlain College of Nursing - Arlington

Arlington, VA • Private

In-State Tuition

$19,375

Enrollment

506

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Nursing

Top Skills For an Adult Nurse Practitioner

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 33.5% of adult nurse practitioners listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and leadership skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Adult Nurse Practitioner Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Adult Nurse Practitioner templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Adult Nurse Practitioner resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Adult Nurse Practitioner Resume
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Adult Nurse Practitioner Demographics

Adult Nurse Practitioner Gender Distribution

Female
Female
89%
Male
Male
11%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among adult nurse practitioners, 88.9% of them are women, while 11.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among adult nurse practitioners is White, which makes up 77.5% of all adult nurse practitioners.

  • The most common foreign language among adult nurse practitioners is Spanish at 53.5%.

Online Courses For Adult Nurse Practitioner That You May Like

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1. Symptom Management in Palliative Care

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This course should be taken after the Essentials of Palliative Care course and continues building your primary palliative care skills – communication, psychosocial support and goals of care. You will learn how to screen, assess, and manage both physical and psychological symptoms. You will explore common symptoms such as pain, nausea, fatigue, and distress and learn specific treatments. You will continue to follow Sarah and Tim’s experience and learn cultural competencies critical for optimal...

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2. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

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This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

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3. Essentials of Palliative Care

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This course starts you on your journey of integrating primary palliative care into your daily lives. You will learn what palliative care is, how to communicate with patients, show empathy, and practice difficult conversations. You will learn how to screen for distress and provide psychosocial support. You will learn about goals of care and advance care planning and how to improve your success with having these conversations with patients. Finally, you will explore important cultural...

See More on Coursera
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Best States For an Adult Nurse Practitioner

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an adult nurse practitioner. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Alaska. Adult nurse practitioners make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $133,401. Whereas in New Jersey and New York, they would average $129,111 and $123,943, respectively. While adult nurse practitioners would only make an average of $123,313 in Alaska, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Connecticut

Total Adult Nurse Practitioner Jobs: 232
Highest 10% Earn:
$223,000
Location Quotient:
1.89

2. Alaska

Total Adult Nurse Practitioner Jobs: 55
Highest 10% Earn:
$206,000
Location Quotient:
1.78

3. New York

Total Adult Nurse Practitioner Jobs: 1,007
Highest 10% Earn:
$212,000
Location Quotient:
2.12
Full List Of Best States For Adult Nurse Practitioners

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Top Adult Nurse Practitioner Employers

Most Common Employers For Adult Nurse Practitioner

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1University of Maryland Medical System$138,549$66.615
2Kaiser Permanente$121,433$58.385
3St. Luke's Hospital$119,293$57.357
4Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center$119,021$57.228
5Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital$117,458$56.477
6HMFPhysicians$116,673$56.095
7HCR ManorCare$116,133$55.835
8New York University$114,213$54.919
9Massachusetts General Hospital$112,952$54.3010
10Matrix Medical Network$112,951$54.3015

Adult Nurse Practitioner Videos