Staff physical therapist vs nurse practitioner

The differences between staff physical therapists and nurse practitioners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a nurse practitioner has an average salary of $100,033, which is higher than the $73,174 average annual salary of a staff physical therapist.

The top three skills for a staff physical therapist include patients, rehabilitation and occupational therapy. The most important skills for a nurse practitioner are patients, diagnosis, and home health.

Staff physical therapist vs nurse practitioner overview

	Staff Physical Therapist	Nurse Practitioner
Yearly salary	$73,174	$100,033
Hourly rate	$35.18	$48.09
Growth rate	17%	40%
Number of jobs	148,908	27,912
Job satisfaction	-	2.67
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Master's Degree, 47%
Average age	41	43
Years of experience	-	2

Staff physical therapist vs nurse practitioner salary

Staff physical therapists and nurse practitioners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Staff Physical Therapist	Nurse Practitioner
Average salary	$73,174	$100,033
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $95,000	Between $62,000 And $161,000
Highest paying City	Sunnyvale, CA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Parkway	Pace University
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between staff physical therapist and nurse practitioner education

There are a few differences between a staff physical therapist and a nurse practitioner in terms of educational background:

	Staff Physical Therapist	Nurse Practitioner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Master's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Physical Therapy	Nursing
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Staff physical therapist vs nurse practitioner demographics

Here are the differences between staff physical therapists' and nurse practitioners' demographics:

	Staff Physical Therapist	Nurse Practitioner
Average age	41	43
Gender ratio	Male, 37.2% Female, 62.8%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	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%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between staff physical therapist and nurse practitioner duties and responsibilities

Staff physical therapist example responsibilities.

Achieve high level of patients satisfaction due to sound clinical management, quality of care and compassion.
Provide inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services for adult and geriatric patients and establish appropriate individual treatment plans for optimal patient care.
Perform physical therapy evaluations and treatments in sub-acute and long-term setting with patients of various neurological, med-surgical, orthopedic diagnoses.
Provide direct outpatient orthopedic/sports medicine rehabilitation services
Facilitate open communication with members of interdisciplinary rehabilitation team.
Facilitate open communication with members of interdisciplinary rehabilitation team.

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.

Staff physical therapist vs nurse practitioner skills

Common staff physical therapist skills

Patients, 31%
Rehabilitation, 11%
Occupational Therapy, 10%
Physical Therapy Assistants, 6%
Direct Patient Care, 4%
Acute Care, 3%

Common nurse practitioner skills

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

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Staff Physical Therapist
Staff Physical Therapist vs Nurse Practitioner

Updated January 8, 2025

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