How to become a nurse practitioner
You need an RN license first, then a master's or doctorate in an NP track. That is 6 to 8 years from scratch on the master's route, 2 to 4 with a BSN.
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A nurse practitioner examines a patient in a primary care exam room.
What a nurse practitioner does
A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse with a graduate degree who examines patients, diagnoses conditions, orders and reads tests, and prescribes medication, often running their own patient panel. Nurse practitioners held about 320,400 US jobs in 2024 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).
The job goes by several names in job ads. NP is the short form. APRN stands for advanced practice registered nurse and covers nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists. A few states title the license CRNP or ARNP. Postings headed advanced practice provider or NP/PA are open to both nurse practitioners and physician assistants. FNP means a nurse practitioner trained to treat families across the lifespan, which is one of several population focuses you choose when you apply.
How long it takes to become a nurse practitioner
Count on 6 to 8 years from high school on the master's route, and 2 to 4 years if you already have a BSN and an active RN license. The graduate NP program itself is the shorter part of that, because you have to become a registered nurse before you can enroll in one.
| Bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) | 4 years. BLS says BSN programs typically take that long (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, registered nurses). |
|---|---|
| RN license | Weeks. You sit the NCLEX-RN after you graduate and apply to your state board. |
| Working as an RN first | 0 to 2 years. BLS records no related work experience for the occupation, and some tracks set their own requirement: Duke asks for 1 year of acute care nursing before its adult-gerontology acute care major, and 2 years in a level III or IV NICU within the past 5 years before the neonatal clinical courses (Duke School of Nursing, 2026). |
| MSN in an NP track | About 2 years. UAB's family nurse practitioner MSN is 45 credit hours over 6 or 7 successive semesters, taught part time at a distance (UAB School of Nursing, 2026). |
| BSN to DNP instead | 3 years full time or 4 years part time at Indiana University, which is 66 credit hours and 1,005 clinical hours (IU School of Nursing, 2026). |
| Certification and APRN license | Weeks after graduation, once you pass the national exam and your state board processes the license. |
| Coming in with a non-nursing degree | 3 years at Yale, whose graduate entry program takes a bachelor's in another subject, qualifies you to sit the NCLEX-RN after the first year, and finishes with an MSN or a DNP in a specialty (Yale School of Nursing, 2026). |
| Total from high school | 6 to 8 years with an MSN. 7 to 10 with a DNP, at the top of that range if your track wants RN experience first or you study part time. |
The degree or program you need
A master's degree is the entry-level education BLS records for the occupation, and it has to be a graduate nursing program in one NP role and population focus. A Doctor of Nursing Practice adds coursework and clinical hours on top of the same NP role and population focus, and both degrees lead to the same certification exams.
Accreditation decides whether the degree counts. For its family NP certification the ANCC accepts programs accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), or the NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (NLN CNEA), and it wants a minimum of 500 faculty-supervised clinical hours inside the program plus separate graduate courses in advanced physiology and pathophysiology, advanced health assessment, and advanced pharmacology (ANCC, 2026). The 2022 National Task Force standards set a higher minimum, 750 direct patient care hours per NP track, and simulation does not count toward it.
Admission takes a BSN, a current RN license, and usually a 3.0 undergraduate GPA. UAB requires that 3.0 and asks for a GRE or GMAT score if your undergraduate GPA is under 3.2. Duke treats 3.0 as a preference, and it also takes an associate degree in nursing paired with a bachelor's degree in any field. Duke sets its work-experience requirements by major: the acute care and neonatal tracks want bedside years first, the primary care majors list none. Across its MSN programs Duke recommends rather than requires a year of nursing experience.
Two other routes exist if you are not already a BSN-prepared nurse. Bridge programs take registered nurses who hold an associate degree or a diploma. Graduate entry programs teach basic nursing first to people who already hold a bachelor's degree: BLS describes them for holders of a degree in a related health science field, Yale takes a bachelor's in any non-nursing discipline and gates on science prerequisites.
NP programs often teach the coursework at a distance. UAB runs its FNP program that way, with on-campus intensives, and the clinical hours happen in person with a preceptor near you.
Getting licensed or certified
You need 3 credentials, in this order: an RN license, national NP certification, then a state APRN license. Your RN license has to stay active the whole time, and it is what lets you enroll in a graduate NP program in the first place. Our RN license guide covers that first step.
After you graduate you sit a national certification exam in your population focus, given by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) or the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The state board then grants the APRN license on the strength of that certification. Which board to pick, what the exam covers, what it costs, and how renewal works are in our NP certification guide. Some postings also ask for a current BLS or CPR card, and sometimes ACLS; the Occupational Outlook Handbook lists all three among the certifications APRN positions may require.
Step by step: how to become a nurse practitioner
- Earn a BSN. If you already have a bachelor's degree in another subject, look at graduate entry programs instead of starting over.
- Pass the NCLEX-RN and get your RN license from the state board.
- Pick your population focus. Family, adult-gerontology primary care, adult-gerontology acute care, pediatrics, neonatal, women's health, and psychiatric-mental health are the usual tracks, and your certification covers only the focus you train in.
- Work as an RN if your track requires it. Acute care and neonatal tracks are where this shows up: Duke asks for 1 year of acute care nursing before adult-gerontology acute care and 2 years of NICU work before neonatal.
- Check that the program is accredited by CCNE, ACEN, or NLN CNEA before you pay a deposit. Without that, the certification boards will not let you test.
- Finish the MSN or DNP, clinical hours included. Expect at least 750 direct patient care hours under the current standards.
- Pass the AANPCB or ANCC exam for your population focus.
- Apply to your state board for the APRN license, then start applying to openings.
What nurse practitioners earn
The median wage for nurse practitioners was $129,210 a year in May 2024 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). That is the midpoint across all experience levels, so a first job out of a program usually pays below it.
Pay in the listings varies with the setting and the state. CVS Health, which posts pay ranges on its NP ads, lists $37.66 to $81.11 an hour for a part-time role in Arizona and $96,000 to $206,000 a year for in-home visit work in Massachusetts (MedJobList, July 2026). BLS projects nurse practitioner employment to grow 40% between 2024 and 2034, to 448,800 jobs.
Where the job leads next
One national certification covers a lot of settings without retraining. Our current listings include in-home health NP roles, hospice per diem work, and specialty work such as pediatric urology.
Schedule is the other thing you can change. Part-time, casual part-time, and per diem NP jobs are posted alongside full-time ones, which is how a lot of NPs add a second setting or cut back without leaving practice. Changing your population focus is expensive, since it means another graduate track and another exam; the NP certification guide explains why.
Where nurse practitioners are hiring now
Right now 983 of the active US openings we track are nurse practitioner roles. They come from retail health employers, hospital systems, home visit and hospice programs, and specialty clinics, and the titles vary: Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner, Advanced Practice Provider, and NP/PA postings that consider both professions.
Credentials named in these postings include NP, RN, and BLS or CPR. You can see the current set on our nurse practitioner jobs page.
FAQ
About 6 to 8 years from high school on the master's route: 4 years for a BSN, up to 2 years working as an RN if your track asks for it, then about 2 years for the MSN. A BSN-to-DNP adds a year or two to that. If you are already a BSN-prepared RN, 2 to 4 years.
Not without becoming one along the way. You need an RN license before you start NP coursework. Graduate entry programs handle both. Yale's runs 3 years and takes a bachelor's degree in another subject; the first year is basic nursing and ends with a certificate that qualifies you for the NCLEX-RN, which you have to pass early in the specialty years.
No. A master's is the entry-level education BLS records for the role, and both the AANPCB and the ANCC certify master's graduates. A DNP is longer and optional.
6 years of college is the shortest common route: 4 for the BSN and about 2 for the MSN. A BSN-to-DNP takes 3 years after the BSN full time, or 4 part time.
It depends on the track. BLS records no related work experience for the occupation, and UAB's family NP program lists no work-experience requirement. Duke's adult-gerontology acute care major asks for 1 year of acute care nursing, and its neonatal major asks for 2 years in a level III or IV NICU within the past 5 years before the clinical courses start.
The coursework, mostly yes. UAB teaches its FNP program at a distance with on-campus intensives. Clinical hours are in person with a preceptor, and the current standards set a floor of 750 direct patient care hours per track.