CAREER PATHS
Which Nurse Practitioner Specialties Will Be in Highest Demand During and After COVID?
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EveryNurse Staff
- Last Updated: 09/10/2021
Nurse practitioner (NP) jobs are on the rise as medical needs increase in a current and post-pandemic world. As provider shortages are mounting, NPs are in a unique position to provide high-quality patient care to populations with complex medical needs. Hospitals and healthcare organizations are becoming more aware of the need for NPs and the benefits they provide, and are now recruiting more NPs than they have over the last 28 years.
Overall Job Growth Expected to Sky-Rocket:
Not only are NPs needed, but patients are also seeking out NPs at astounding rates. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), more than 1.06 billion visits (that’s billion with a ‘B’) are made to NPs every year. AANP further states “NPs are quickly becoming the health care provider of choice for millions of Americans. As clinicians who assess, diagnose, and treat acute and chronic diseases, as well as counsel, coordinate care, and educate patients regarding their illnesses, NPs bring a comprehensive perspective to health care.”
The job growth outlook is bright for NPs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes that “overall, job opportunities for advanced practice registered nurses are likely to be excellent.” They also added that “the profession is expected to grow 45% from 2019 to 2029, which is much faster than the average for all occupations, with 24,200 average projected openings for NPs each year, over the decade.”
Preventative Health
The BLS notes that NPs are and will be in more demand due to the increased emphasis on preventive care since chronic conditions have negatively impacted survival rates for people who contracted coronavirus. Healthcare companies are finally seeing in real-time that an ounce of prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure.
Preventative healthcare services are not only offered in primary care offices anymore. It is offered in a variety of settings such as community health clinics like Planned Parenthood, integrated healthcare clinics that provide mental health and primary care services, college campus health centers, school-based health centers, telemedicine companies, and more. The surge of telemedicine in particular has increased a patient’s ability to access much-needed preventative, urgent care, and mental health services. According to one telemedicine company, Doctor on Demand, they provide telemedicine services for urgent care, behavioral health, preventative health, and chronic care management with many subspecialties.
Geriatric Health
NPs are needed to address the increased demand for healthcare services for our aging baby boomer population. According to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), “The demand for geriatricians is projected to increase 45% by 2025 with a projected national shortage of almost 27,000 geriatricians.” Geriatric health services can be offered in several locations, including primary care clinics, integrative health clinics, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living centers, home health care services, and more. Geriatric providers can also be invaluable in all other specialty areas, such as cardiology or neurology clinics, where a geriatric lens is needed to help with proper diagnosis and care.
Psychiatric Mental Health
It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken an overwhelming toll on the mental health of every population group in our nation. The worsening opioid epidemic has increased the need for more psychiatric providers to treat addiction and substance abuse. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are showing up for patients, families, and healthcare workers in response to the stress of living through such challenging times. Rates of anxiety and depression are increasing, especially in the pediatric population. Psychiatric Mental Health NPs also have a wide range of locations they can work in, such as primary care clinics, outpatient psychiatry clinics, inpatient psychiatric units, emergency departments, residential psychiatric facilities, drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, rural clinics, and more.
Underserved Populations
There is an increased need for support in medically underserved areas such as inner cities and rural areas. There are vacancies and numerous opportunities for NPs to work in preventative health, urgent and emergent care, mental health, and public health in these areas. Underserved populations can also include more specific populations of people such as the LGBTQ community, developmentally disabled patients, individuals in the foster care system, or the prison population. Again, telemedicine can do a lot to increase access to care for underserved populations, as long as they have access to a smartphone or have a reliable high-speed internet connection. We still have a long way to go with ensuring access to high-speed internet for underserved communities, but work is underway at local and national levels to help expand access and digital infrastructure as much as possible.
Specialty of Your Choosing
The AANP states that the average age of NPs is 49 years old. This implies that many NPs are older than 49 years old, thus closer to retirement age. As NPs retire in all specialties, demand to fill those newly vacant positions will also rise. For nurses pursuing an NP career, there are plenty of opportunities in any NP specialty that they are passionate about, especially in underserved populations. So if you have been thinking about going to NP school for a long time, or hesitating to apply because you were worried about whether or not you will have a job after graduation, now is the time to take the leap and become the NP you have always dreamed of becoming.
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