Nursing professionals

How to become a registered nurse practitioner

Official title: Registered nurse practitioners

Also called: Nurse-ecp, Practitioner, Nurse-practitioner, Nurse practitioner, Midwifery practitioner, Health care practitioner, Mental health practitioner, Advanced nurse practitioner, Emergency nurse practitioner, Specialist nurse practitioner, Advanced clinical practitioner, Mental health nurse practitioner

Registered nurse practitioners provide nursing care for the sick, injured and others in need of such care, assist medical doctors with their tasks and also provide care independently, including diagnosing patients, the ordering and interpretation of tests, the determination of treatment and prescription of medication.

Main tasks

Assists medical doctors and works with other healthcare professionals to deal with emergencies and pre-planned treatment of patients
Manages own case load
Interviews and diagnoses patients, orders tests and interprets results and determines appropriate treatments
Monitors patient’s progress, administers drugs and medicines, applies surgical dressings and gives other forms of treatment
Plans duty rotas and organises and directs the work and training of ward and theatre nursing staff
Plans, manages, provides and evaluates nursing care services for patients, supervises the implementation of nursing care plans

How to become one

Qualification as a nurse is via a diploma or degree course, both of which are provided by universities, or through an apprenticeship. Courses comprise both theoretical and practical work, including placements in hospital and community settings. To become an advanced nurse practitioner significant experience and qualification to a postgraduate level is usually required.

Ways in

Apprenticeship (England): Operating department practitioner (level 6). England. Typically 48 months. Skills England standard ST0582.
University: Nursing & Midwifery degrees, Offered by 16 universities in the UK

Pay · Outlook

Median full-time pay: £46,069 a year The middle half earn £38,107 to £53,210.
About 44,400 people work in this job now, and about 48,700 are projected by 2035. (+9.6%)

Questions people ask

How do I become a registered nurse practitioner?

How much does a registered nurse practitioner earn in the UK?

Median full-time pay is £46,069 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £38,107 to £53,210.

Is a registered nurse practitioner a growing career in the UK?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 10% by 2035, from about 44,400 to about 48,700 people (Department for Education).

Do you need a degree to become a registered nurse practitioner?

Usually. 80% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Sources

Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.