31302 Nurse practitioners

What this occupation covers

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with additional education, advanced knowledge and nursing experience, and a specialty of practice. They provide a range of health services to patients and deliver preventive and continuous care toward the management of patients' health. Nurse practitioners work in conjunction with physicians and collaboratively with other nursing colleagues and health-care providers, or they may work independently. They are employed in community health centres, hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, and rehabilitation centres. Nurse practitioners may specialize in primary healthcare or acute care.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 8 main duties for this code.

• Examine patients and take their medical histories and consult with physicians and other medical practitioners to evaluate patients' physical and mental health
• Order laboratory tests, X-rays and other diagnostic procedures
• Inoculate and vaccinate patients
• Advise patients and their families on health care including health promotion, disease, illness and accident prevention
• Collaborate with members of an interdisciplinary health team such as family physicians, therapists and nutritionists to plan, implement, coordinate and evaluate patient care in consultation with patients and their families
• Perform a patient advocacy role
• Prescribe and administer medications
• May coordinate or manage primary patient care.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 8 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 31102 General practitioners and family physicians
• 30010 Managers in health care
• 31209 Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating
• 31303 Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals
• 31301 Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
• 31100 Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
• 31101 Specialists in surgery

Excluded from this code

• General practitioners and family physicians (See 31102 General practitioners and family physicians)
• Managers in health care (See 30010 Managers in health care)
• Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating (See 31209 Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating)
• Physicians assistants, midwives and allied health professionals (See 31303 Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals)
• Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (See 31301 Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses)
• Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine (See 31100 Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine)
• Specialists in surgery (See 31101 Specialists in surgery)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

acute care nurse practitioner · adult care nurse practitioner · advanced nurse practitioner · advanced practice nurse · anesthesia nurse practitioner · cardiovascular nurse practitioner · extended class registered nurse · geriatric nurse practitioner · nurse practitioner · pediatric nurse practitioner · primary health care nurse practitioner

Employment requirements

• Nurse practitioners usually require a master's degree in nursing; or completion of a nursing program with additional advanced or extended primary health care nursing education; and several years of practice as a registered nurse.
• Registration with a regulatory body is required for nurse practitioners in all provinces and territories.