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Boston Career Explorer

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

Nurse Practitioners

Diagnose and treat acute, episodic, or chronic illness, independently or as part of a healthcare team. May focus on health promotion and disease prevention. May order, perform, or interpret diagnostic tests such as lab work and x rays. May prescribe medication. Must be registered nurses who have specialized graduate education.

Also called: ACNP (Acute Care Nurse Practitioner), Adult Nurse Practitioner, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), ARNP Specialist (Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner Specialist), Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Family Practice Certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner

Compare with my current job (Genetic Counselors)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$147,480
$70.90/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
5,990
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+35.1%
780 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Master's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$116,600$134,350$147,480$172,040$212,490

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Maintain complete and detailed records of patients' health care plans and prognoses.
  • Develop treatment plans, based on scientific rationale, standards of care, and professional practice guidelines.
  • Provide patients with information needed to promote health, reduce risk factors, or prevent disease or disability.
  • Analyze and interpret patients' histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses.
  • Diagnose or treat complex, unstable, comorbid, episodic, or emergency conditions in collaboration with other health care providers as necessary.
  • Prescribe medication dosages, routes, and frequencies, based on such patient characteristics as age and gender.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure52 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 52
  • Language-model AIOE 54
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 51

Observed AI use today: Some (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for nurse practitioners is moderate, and observed AI use is still limited. AI tools may help with record-keeping and with organizing histories and test information. Examining patients, making diagnoses, and treating complex conditions still rely on clinical judgment. Federal projections also expect nurse practitioners to take on more tasks in team-based care.

Likely to change

  • Keeping detailed patient records and care plans
  • Organizing histories and diagnostic information

Still relies on people

  • Examining patients and making final diagnoses
  • Coaching patients on health and prevention

What federal projections say

“Occupational substitution, demand change - share increases as nurse practitioners are increasingly employed in team-based models of care, taking on tasks previously performed by physicians. Expanding practice authority is expected to support employment demand further.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

4 programs near Boston (plus 34 graduate)

Related occupations

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