Nurse practitioner vs physician

The differences between nurse practitioners and physicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a nurse practitioner, becoming a physician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a physician has an average salary of $238,887, which is higher than the $100,033 average annual salary of a nurse practitioner.

The top three skills for a nurse practitioner include patients, diagnosis and home health. The most important skills for a physician are patients, surgery, and patient care.

Nurse practitioner vs physician overview

	Nurse Practitioner	Physician
Yearly salary	$100,033	$238,887
Hourly rate	$48.09	$114.85
Growth rate	40%	7%
Number of jobs	27,912	46,489
Job satisfaction	2.67	-
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 35%
Average age	43	48
Years of experience	2	4

What does a nurse practitioner do?

A nurse practitioner's role is diverse. It revolves around supervising nurses in a particular area and providing immediate care and treatment to patients through extensive knowledge and clinical experience. Among the duties of a nurse practitioner involves diagnosing and treating medical conditions, performing research and analysis through various tests, evaluating data and results, operating different kinds of medical equipment, and gathering samples from patients. Furthermore, a nurse practitioner must maintain an active line of communication and coordination among fellow health workers in a hospital or clinic.

What does a physician do?

Physicians' general responsibility is to check, diagnose, and treat a patient's condition to improve their overall wellness. A physician could be General Practitioners or Specialist Physicians, wherein General Practitioners are physicians who provide regular checkups for patients depending on their needs and refer them to a Specialist Physicians who are more skilled in a particular field of expertise for a thorough diagnosis. Physicians monitor a patient's medical history and ensure follow-up checkups to observe if the condition of a patient is changing over time. A physician may refer a patient to other health professionals for further examination as needed.

Nurse practitioner vs physician salary

Nurse practitioners and physicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nurse Practitioner	Physician
Average salary	$100,033	$238,887
Salary range	Between $62,000 And $161,000	Between $128,000 And $442,000
Highest paying City	Richmond, CA	Cleveland, TN
Highest paying state	California	Wisconsin
Best paying company	Pace University	Yuma Regional Medical Center
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between nurse practitioner and physician education

There are a few differences between a nurse practitioner and a physician in terms of educational background:

	Nurse Practitioner	Physician
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 35%
Most common major	Nursing	Medicine
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Nurse practitioner vs physician demographics

Here are the differences between nurse practitioners' and physicians' demographics:

	Nurse Practitioner	Physician
Average age	43	48
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 39.0% Female, 61.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 77.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 19.1% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	12%	13%

Differences between nurse practitioner and physician duties and responsibilities

Nurse practitioner example responsibilities.

Manage care of chronic pediatric patients in PICU.
Assess, diagnose and medically manage patients with various GI diseases and dysfunctions
Manage medical illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, thyroid conditions and asthma and other medical conditions.
Manage pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment of diabetes and provide prescriptions and education before discharge from the hospital.
Manage appropriate changes to individualize care plan to ensure cost and time efficacy in an outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation office.
Document correctly the patients' information in electronic health record and observe HIPAA.

Physician example responsibilities.

Manage catheters and dress wounds.
Maintain ACLS and BLS certifications.
Treat complicated oncology cases in ICU and emergency.
Schedule new, follow-up and diagnostic testing for cardiology patients.
Attend radiation oncology clinic for new patients beginning treatment as well as follow-ups for returning patients.
Schedule tests and procedures (including radiology, cardiology, and respiratory) utilizing the hospital and clinic computer systems.

Nurse practitioner vs physician skills

Common nurse practitioner skills

Patients, 29%
Diagnosis, 7%
Home Health, 5%
Diagnostic Tests, 5%
Acute Care, 3%
EMR, 3%

Common physician skills

Patients, 22%
Surgery, 8%
Patient Care, 7%
Internal Medicine, 6%
Primary Care, 6%
EMR, 6%

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Nurse Practitioner vs Physician

Updated January 8, 2025

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