Strong Job Outlook for APRNs

With employment projected to grow 31% from 2012 to 2022, the job outlook for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) is a strong one.  By comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is anticipating 11% job growth for all occupations in the U.S. during the same period.  Advanced Practice Registered Nurse occupations include nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners.  All three of these APRN occupations are forecast by the BLS to experience much faster than average job growth.  The number of nurse anesthetist jobs is expected to reach 43,900 positions in 2022, up 25% from 2012.  Nurse midwife positions are projected to have an even faster 29% growth rate as the number of nurse midwife jobs is expected to reach 7,700 in 2022, up from 6,000 such positions in 2012.  Nurse practitioners held over 110,000 positions in 2012, making it the largest of the APRN occupations.  Even so, according to the BLS nurse practitioners have the strongest job growth outlook among the APRN occupations as the number of nurse practitioner jobs is expected to grow 34%, to 147,300 positions, from 2012 to 2022.

The strong job outlook for APRNs is underpinned by robust growth in the demand for healthcare services. Several factors, including the Affordable Care Act and its positive impact on the overall number of Americans with health insurance coverage, the increased emphasis on preventative care, and the large, aging baby-boom population will contribute to growing demand for healthcare services.

Also underlying the strong job outlook for APRNs are legislative trends that are gradually expanding the profession's practice authority to include more primary care services traditionally rendered by physicians.  In addition, APRNs  are becoming more widely recognized by the public as a source for primary healthcare, another ongoing development that will boost job growth prospects for the profession.

For a look at the job outlook for other health professions, visit Healthcare Job Outlook.