Facts About NPs
#NPWEEK | November 10-16, 2024
1
There are more than 385,000 NPs licensed in the U.S.
2
More than 36,000 new NPs completed their academic programs in 2020-2021.
88.0% of NPs are certified in an area of primary care, and 70.3% of all NPs deliver primary care.
3
3
83.2% of full-time NPs are seeing Medicare patients and 81.9% are seeing Medicaid patients.
3
45.6% of full-time NPs hold hospital privileges; 10.9% have long-term care privileges.
96.2% of NPs prescribe medications, and those in full-time practice write an average of 21 prescriptions per day.
3
NPs hold prescriptive privileges, including controlled substances, in all 50 states and D.C.
3
In 2021, the median base salary for full-time NPs was $113,000.
The majority of full-time NPs (56.9%) see 3 or more patients per hour.
3
NPs have been in practice an average of 9 years.
3
3
The average age of NPs is
46 years.
To date, 27 states, the District of Columbia and Two U.S. territories have adopted Full Practice Authority, giving patients full and direct access to NPs.
Distribution of NPs by Primary Certification Area
3
CERTIFICATION* | % OF NPs |
|---|---|
Family^ | 70.3 |
Adult–Gerontology Primary Care^ | 8.9 |
Psychiatric/Mental Health | 6.5 |
Adult–Gerontology Acute Care | 6.1 |
Adult^ | 5.7 |
Acute Care | 2.9 |
Pediatrics–Primary Care^ | 2.4 |
Women's Health^ | 2.2 |
Gerontology^ | 0.9 |
Pediatrics–Acute Care | 0.6 |
Neonatal | 0.5 |