Career Outcomes and Clinical Placements for Nurse Practitioners in Chicago

Nurse practitioners (NPs) with the exact same qualifications and backgrounds can actually experience significantly different career outcomes depending on where they practice. NP salary, job availability and scope of practice are each influenced by regional variables, including state legislation, the local economy and cost of living.

Nurse practitioners in Illinois earn an average annual salary of $98,300. In comparison, the average salary for all occupations in the state is $51,500. In the Chicago area specifically, NPs earn an average of $101,930 per year.

Of all states, Illinois employs the twelfth-highest number of NPs, with 4,030 NPs practicing across the state. Almost 2,000 of these NPs (1,930) work in Chicago and the surrounding community.

Illinois nurse practitioners operate with a reduced scope of practice, as mandated by state practice and licensure law. This means that as a nurse practitioner in Illinois, you will be limited in at least one area of your practice, the full range of which typically includes evaluating and diagnosing patients, ordering diagnostic tests, managing treatment plans, and prescribing medications.

Illinois state law recognizes NPs as primary care providers but requires them to develop a written agreement with a supervising physician that lays out the kinds of care they can provide and responsibilities they can assume. This agreement should also detail the types of drugs and substances the NP can prescribe.

The clinical placement experience gives Nursing@USC students the opportunity to put into practice the skills learned in the online classroom. With the support of the program’s clinical placement specialists, aspiring nurse practitioners in Chicago are placed at health care sites near their communities where they will be challenged by experienced mentors to perfect their practice skill set.

Are you interested in advancing your career in health care? Learn more about earning your Master of Science in Nursing online with Nursing@USC today.