How to become a nurse practitioner
Official title: Nurse practitioner
Also called: Nursing officer, Rural nurse specialist, Clinical nurse practitioner, Nurse specialist
Nurse practitioners provide general and specialist patient care, including diagnosis, treatments and consultations. They may advise patients about health care and prescribe medication.
Main tasks
- Diagnose and treat patients
- Develop treatment plans
- Order tests for patients
- Analyse medical tests and images
- Prescribe medications
- Monitor patient progress
- Educate other medical professionals
- Write reports
How to become one
You need more than one qualification to become a nurse practitioner. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: at least 4 years’ experience as a registered nurse in a specific area of practice; a master's degree in nursing accredited by the Nursing Council; to pass an assessment against the nurse practitioner competencies by a Nursing Council-approved panel; an Annual Practising Certificate; to pass a police check. Registration body: Nursing Council of New Zealand.
Ways in
- University: Nursing & Midwifery degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand
- Registration or licence: At least 4 years’ experience as a registered nurse in a specific area of practice; an Annual Practising Certificate. Registration body: Nursing Council of New Zealand (https://www.nursingcouncil.org.nz/).
Pay · Past change · AI and this job
- Most common pay: $143,946 to $151,079 a year (median $147,512), a TEC estimate before tax.
- Lower: $136,815 a year · Upper: $162,802 a year
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- People employed in the group Registered Nurses: 36,291 at the 2018 Census and 45,246 at the 2023 Census (+24.7%). Past change, not a forecast.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Who does this work
- About 3,600 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
- In the group Registered Nurses, 88% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
- Where people in the group Registered Nurses work (2023 Census): Auckland 28.6%, Canterbury 14.8%, and Wellington 10.3%.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a nurse practitioner?
You need more than one qualification to become a nurse practitioner. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: at least 4 years’ experience as a registered nurse in a specific area of practice; a master's degree in nursing accredited by the Nursing Council; to pass an assessment against the nurse practitioner competencies by a Nursing Council-approved panel; an Annual Practising Certificate; to pass a police check. Registration body: Nursing Council of New Zealand.
How much does a nurse practitioner earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $147,512 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $143,946 to $151,079 a year.
Will AI change the work of a nurse practitioner?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026