6 Future Trends for Nurse Practitioners

Medicine and how we care for patients is constantly changing and evolving. How we learned to treat diseases and conditions 10–20 years ago is not how we treat them now. Imagine what the next decade or two will bring!

So, what does the future look like for NPs? 🔮 While we aren’t fortune tellers here at SMNP Reviews, we can keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in our field! No matter what your specialty is, we’re seeing trends of greater focus on technology, including AI, changes in population health needs, and the always changing world of politics and health policies. In this post, we’ll talk about the six biggest trends that will affect NP practice in the future!

Speaking of the future…is your AANP or ANCC board exam coming up? We can help with that! Join our Live or Self-Paced Courses and learn from our team of experts at SMNP Reviews (with a 99%+ pass rate)!

Looking to the Future: 6 Upcoming Trends in NP Practice

1. Increasing Autonomy / Push for Full Practice Authority

As we move into the future, more states are likely to continue to grant NPs full practice authority and increase the autonomy of NPs nationwide. NPs will continue to fill needed gaps in clinician shortages, not just in primary care, but across all NP specialties.

This is great news, not just for NPs, but also for the patients who will benefit from their care and have greater access to care, especially in rural and underserved areas.

2. Continued Growth of Telehealth / Telemedicine

Another area of continued growth is in telemedicine. The COVID-19 pandemic catapulted telemedicine into the forefront out of necessity for remote care and monitoring, but its popularity still remains.

Looking towards the future, telemedicine capabilities will continue to grow, and NPs will need to be prepared. NPs can expect to use more AI-driven tools and have increased connection between electronic medical record systems. Those innovations will help NPs that provide remote care improve clinical decision-making and allow better communication between clinicians. 

3. Expansion of Artificial Intelligence

Let’s dig a little deeper into those technological advances that NPs can expect. The biggest changes have to do with the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI). Similar to telemedicine, AI technology continues to improve and enhance patient care. NPs will use AI-driven tools to help diagnose patient conditions, monitor trends in patients and populations, improve patient outcomes, and become more efficient.

What are some AI tools that NPs can use now, and what are some to look forward to in the future?

Clinical decision support systems 

NPs can expect continued improvements with clinical decision-making resources like UpToDate (by Wolters-Kluwer) and ClinicalKey (by Elsevier) to offer more tailored clinical recommendations.

VisualDx is another excellent resource for NPs when it comes to diagnosing skin conditions, and has a focus on inclusive medicine by including visual references of conditions on all types of skin tones. 

Risk prediction tools and diagnostic assistants

You’re probably familiar with certain risk prediction tools like the ASCVD risk calculator, but AI will take risk prediction to the next level with accuracy and treatment planning.

Also, AI is helping to streamline radiology and diagnostic testing to improve efficiency and precision, which would help NPs with diagnosis and management across all specialties. 

Charting and documentation tools

AI will also make charting easier for NPs (doesn’t that sound amazing!). AI tools in documentation can help save hours of time that can be better used for patient care and work/life balance. You may have heard of dictaphones that clinicians speak into after a visit to have their note transcribed.

But what would it mean for you if AI could listen during your patient visit and transcribe the note for you as you go? Imagine your SOAP note being automatically generated for you based on what you said during your visit, as well as being able to create patient education notes and follow-up reminders for you. There are several tools in development that will allow for just that! 

Remote patient monitoring tools

For NPs working remotely, AI companies are working to create devices for patients to wear at home to assist in the gathering of information (vital signs, ECG, blood glucose, etc.) during telemedicine visits, and to also be able to send alerts to clinicians when there is a change in condition. 

Pharmacogenomics

GeneSight: This technology analyzes DNA to assist in making more informed decisions about how a person may react to and tolerate certain psychiatric medications. NPs can use the information to tailor medication plans for patients with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and other mental health conditions. 

AI-Marrvel: This AI program looks to increase the accuracy of diagnosing genetic conditions. Currently, NPs seeking genetic information for their patients encounter long waits and expensive testing. AI-Marrvel can aid in the diagnosis of genetic conditions, as well as the discovery of previously unknown genetic variants.

4. NPs Engaging in Global Health Care

Moving on from fancy technologies, NPs can expect to be called upon to engage in global health care. Globalization and climate change are affecting disease patterns and NPs are needed to help address emerging global health issues. Around 70 countries have some type of nurse practitioner or similar advanced practice nursing role. Those nurse practitioners are essential to providing high quality care and improving the overall access to healthcare to create positive health outcomes for patients all across the world. 

AANP also has a special interest group dedicated to international care, so if global health is a passion of yours, definitely check that out and start networking! You can also help to create health policies to improve the access to care, advocate for the advancement of the NP profession to improve scope of practice in areas of the world where it’s limited, and you can volunteer on medical missions and provide care to the underserved.

Looking to expand your education, certification, and expertise? There are certificate and degree programs focusing on global health and public health, such as a master’s in public health (MPH) or a doctorate of nursing practice (DNP) with a focus on global health. 

5. Expansion of Advanced-Level Degrees 

And speaking of education and degrees, there’s a continued push toward the DNP degree as the entry-level for NP practice. Check out our previous post on MSN versus DNP! With the continued advances in medicine and technology (informatics, genomics, global and public health), NPs will require a higher level of skills. Whether that means a DNP degree for entry-level practice or more pathways and specialties for NPs, stay tuned for big changes in NP education!

6. NPs as Entrepreneurs

NPs can also expect more opportunities as entrepreneurs in healthcare. Do you want to be your own boss? With expansions in full practice authority, NP-owned clinics and concierge practices are on the rise. NPs are also focusing on technology to improve access to care, and we already know that healthcare technology is constantly growing. With the need for more clinicians, especially in primary care, NPs can fill those gaps as business leaders in clinics, health coaching, aesthetics, and even content creation!

The future is bright for nurse practitioners! According to U.S. News and World Reports, nurse practitioners have the #1 job in 2025 (for the second year in a row). There is a growing need for NPs and there are endless possibilities for unique paths as the healthcare environment and patient needs change.

Final Thoughts

While these trends are merely what we’ve noticed (and can’t possibly predict), we can say that this is an incredibly exciting time to be a nurse practitioner. From us here at SMNP Reviews, we look forward to a future of amazing NPs! 💜