Will AI replace nurse practitioners?

Unlikely, though parts of the work are changing. About 59m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by AI working on its own. The other 7h 1m (88%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 41% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 2 of 27 tasks, about 59m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Analyze and interpret patients' histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses. (53m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Provide patients or caregivers with assistance in locating health care resources. (6m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)

Not in workplaces like this one, based on a 2026 review of robot deployments. For 5 physical tasks, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

7h 1m of a typical shift, or 88%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Maintain complete and detailed records of patients' health care plans and prognoses. (1h 22m a shift)
• Diagnose or treat chronic health care problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. (35m a shift)
• Develop treatment plans, based on scientific rationale, standards of care, and professional practice guidelines. (29m a shift)
• Diagnose or treat acute health care problems, such as illnesses, infections, or injuries. (29m a shift)
• Order, perform, or interpret the results of diagnostic tests, such as complete blood counts (CBCs), electrocardiograms (EKGs), and radiographs (x-rays). (29m a shift)

Much of it comes down to where and how the work happens. In-person, hands-on and high-stakes work is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 100% talk face to face with others every day
• 87% are exposed to disease or infection every day
• 83% say a mistake would be very or extremely serious

We track 1 sourced company move that affects this job. Most recent:

• Apr 1, 2026: University of Toledo Health deploys Nabla AI scribe in Epic (Rolling out)

For the 2 tasks in this job where AI shows up and timing data exists, a typical request takes about 2h 1m for a person alone and about 33m with AI. These are Claude's own estimates from real conversations in April and May 2026 (Anthropic Economic Index). They describe single requests, not whole workdays, and time saved on a task doesn't mean jobs are cut. The biggest gaps:

• Analyze and interpret patients' histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses (about 2h 43m alone, 46m with AI)
• Provide patients or caregivers with assistance in locating health care resources (about 1h 19m alone, 21m with AI)

On Indeed, job postings in the Nursing sector are at 112% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), down 0.4% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 29,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $132,300 a year ($63.61 an hour), 160% above the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $101,340 and $174,420 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects growth of 41% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 474,000 jobs in 2035. It expects about 29,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 323,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.21% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 127th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 474,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a master's degree: about 65% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 5 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: graduate degree. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Science, Complex Problem Solving, Monitoring, Service Orientation
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 1m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: eClinicalWorks EHR software, Epic Systems, MEDITECH software, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

These use similar skills, with less of a typical shift touched by AI or robots. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Nurse Midwives (28m touched, $134k median pay)
• Hospitalists (0m touched, $266k median pay)
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians (0m touched, $266k median pay)
• Preventive Medicine Physicians (0m touched, $266k median pay)
• Acute Care Nurses (12m touched, $98k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 2 observed in real AI use, 25 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.