What is a Telemedicine Nurse Practitioner? (Duties, Steps to Become, & Salary)


Written By: Pattie TrumblePattie Trumble, MPP, MPH

Pattie Trumble is a nurse who worked in both California and New York for many years as an emergency room nurse. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an Associate Degree in Nursing from the Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing. Read Full Bio »»
, MPP, MPH

What is a telemedicine nurse practitioner? A telemedicine nurse practitioner is an advanced practice registered nurse who provides patients with remote consultation and treatment, thereby embodying the roles of healthcare educator, provider, and advocate. Telephone triage nurses have existed since the early 1950s, but the COVID-19 pandemic gave telemedicine an exponential boost. In 2022, 57 percent of all nurses, including APRNs, reported using telehealth technologies in some capacity. However, working as a telemedicine nurse practitioner can be challenging; the treatment model is substantively different from the models RNs and APRNs are taught in nursing school. Could this be the right specialty for you? This article explores the role of the telemedicine nurse practitioner – what do they do, steps-to-become, and salary.


What Does a Telemedicine Nurse Practitioner Do? – 6 Main Duties and Responsibilities


Telemedicine nurse practitioners provide primary care within their scope of practice precisely as they were trained to do; they just use smartphones, computers, and video conferencing to do so. Nevertheless, telemedicine as a medium is geared toward fulfilling specific priorities, so telemedicine nurse practitioners have clearly defined job responsibilities. Here are six of them:

1. Triage

“Triage” refers to an initial assessment of a patient’s symptoms to evaluate how urgent the need for treatment is. Telemedicine nurse practitioners deploy triage to determine whether a patient needs to be seen in person in an emergency department.


2. Management of chronic conditions

As primary care providers, telemedicine nurse practitioners may routinely initiate check-ins with patients whom those NPs have been monitoring for chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, or depression. Nurse practitioners may also do post-treatment sessions with patients, following up on changes in medication, diet, physical therapy, or the like.

3. Collection of remote data

Digital medical devices such as remote blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, and glucometers are a common feature of contemporary medicine. Sometimes, patients collect the information these devices yield and self-report to their telemedicine nurse practitioner. Just as often, though, telemedicine NPs harvest this data from cloud-based sites without patient involvement and use it to help make diagnoses.

4. Patient education

Telemedicine is also a powerful tool for teaching patients how to manage their health conditions and for supporting patients in making lifestyle changes that will enhance wellness and prevent illness.

5. Access

Telemedicine nurse practitioners treat patients with limited transportation options who live an unmanageable distance away from healthcare hubs. These patients might otherwise be unable to seek medical care.

6. Referrals

Telemedicine nurse practitioners may refer patients to specialists on the basis of what they see, hear, and learn while interacting remotely with patients—just as any primary care practitioner would.


Where Do Telemedicine Nurse Practitioners Mostly Work? – Top 3 Work Settings


1. Medical facilities

Telemedicine nurse practitioners often work in hospitals, clinics, and physician practices where they provide advice and consultation and screen patients to determine whether a patient’s complaint justifies a visit to the facility.

2. Medical call centers

Some telemedicine NPs work out of medical call centers where they answer patients’ questions after hours and guide patients to seek in-person care at an emergency room when appropriate.

3. Their own homes

Telemedicine NPs can also work out of their own homes. As a home-based telemedicine nurse practitioner, you can work for a healthcare provider or other company or helm your own telemedicine practice. One of the great advantages of being a telemedicine NP is that you can live in a state that restricts your scope of practice and yet practice independently in a full-practice state using a telephone or video conferencing so long as you are licensed in that full-practice state.


What is the Typical Work Schedule and Work Hours of a Telemedicine NP?


Telemedicine is an excellent career choice for any nurse practitioner who wants flexible work hours. While some telemedicine NPs work regular eight-hour shifts five days a week, many work per diem, picking up shifts when they need the money. In fact, many telemedicine NPs hold down other jobs in the healthcare industry and rely upon remote work when they want to augment their incomes. Telemedicine nurse practitioners are called upon to work evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays, but they typically receive premium pay for those shifts.


What Education is Required to Become a Telemedicine Nurse Practitioner After High School?


Becoming a telemedicine nurse practitioner will take you between eight and ten years. First, you must attain RN licensure, which requires graduating from an associate nursing degree program or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. If you graduate with an associate degree, you’ll need to complete an RN-to-BSN program before you can continue on to a graduate nursing program.

Next, you’ll have to complete either a Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) or a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree to become a nurse practitioner. Since telemedicine is a healthcare delivery method, it’s outside the traditional APRN consensus model that primarily defines nurse practitioner core competencies according to the patient population served. Most telemedicine nurse practitioners train as family nurse practitioners or as adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioners.

Telemedicine NPs need excellent communication, assessment, and critical thinking skills, so it’s best to have one to two years of actual practice experience before you begin working with patients virtually. Although these skills can be taught, they must be reinforced and developed through multiple interactions with large volumes of patients.


How Long Does It Take to Become a Telemedicine NP After High School?


Program TypeProgram Length
BSN36 to 48 Months
BSN-to-MSN (NP)12 to 24 Months
BSN-to-DNP (NP)36 to 48 Months


How Much Does It Cost to Become a Telemedicine NP After High School?


Program TypeProgram Cost
BSN$8,730 - $219,450
BSN-to-MSN (NP)$20,740 - $201,980
BSN-to-DNP (NP)$28,390 - $277,320


What is the Step-By-Step Process of Becoming a Telemedicine Nurse Practitioner After High School?

(The following is a step-by-step process to become a Telemedicine NP after high school.)

Becoming a telemedicine nurse practitioner requires some improvisation because there isn’t any one nurse practitioner program from which you can graduate as a telemedicine NP. Here are some steps that will help you achieve your goal.


STEP #1: Complete an RN program

You must be an RN before you can become a telemedicine NP. By law, registered nurses must be licensed in the state where they’re employed. It is nearly impossible to attain RN licensure without first graduating from either an accredited ADN or an accredited BSN program.


STEP #2: Pass the NCLEX-RN exam

The NCLEX-RN, developed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, is a standardized examination that tests entry-level nursing knowledge and competencies.


STEP #3: Find employment as an RN

Most telehealth and telemedicine employers will only hire you if your resume demonstrates solid patient experience. Working as an RN in a med/surg unit for one or two years can be an excellent preparation for a career in telemedicine.


STEP #4: Earn a telehealth credential

See below.


STEP #5: Get a part-time telehealth job

Got an extra eight hours a week? Why not pick up a per diem job as a telehealth RN? While you won’t be doing precisely the same sort of work you’ll be doing as a telemedicine NP, you will be perfecting the art of providing remote patient care, which will prove useful for your future plans. Earning a little extra bank on the side is always useful, too!


STEP #6: Graduate from a nurse practitioner program

As noted above, you must complete an NP-focused MSN or DNP program to become a TNP. Diagnosis and treatment are within an NP’s scope of practice, so once you graduate and pass the standardized exam that allows you to be certified in an available field of expertise—for example, family nurse practice—you will be fully qualified to practice telemedicine.


STEP #7: Find NP employment

As noted above, telemedicine employers prefer to work with healthcare professionals who have several years of experience working with live patients. Urgent care clinics and emergency departments are two of the best places for nurse practitioners to gain this type of experience.


STEP #8: Join professional telemedicine organizations

Joining professional telemedicine organizations will introduce you to potential employers and provide educational and development opportunities that will enhance your use of tele-healthcare technologies.


STEP #9: Get a job as a telemedicine nurse practitioner

Once you have one to two years of experience as an APRN provider, it’s time to begin searching for your dream telemedicine job. Keep in mind that telemedicine is a highly competitive field. Make sure your resume amply talks up your suitability and accomplishments, and don’t be shy about asking your professional network for employment leads.


What are the Required or Recommended Certifications for Telemedicine Nurse Practitioners?


Although telehealth and telemedicine are often used interchangeably, in fact, they are two distinct practice modalities. Telemedicine involves diagnosis and treatment, neither of which are part of a registered nurse’s scope of practice. RNs cannot perform telemedicine. However, RNs can perform telehealth, which relies upon triage, monitoring, and patient education.

Universities like Cornell, Molloy, and Florida Atlantic offer online telemedicine certificate programs. These are open to both RNs and APRNs, implying that despite the courses’ titles, their curricula include telehealth and telemedicine skills useful to both nurses and NPs. “Telehealth nursing” is also a large content area in the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Ambulatory Care Nursing Certification Exam, which is similarly open to both nurses and nurse practitioners.


Are There Any Fellowship or Residency Programs Available for Telemedicine Nurse Practitioners?


While no residency programs are entirely dedicated to training nurse practitioners as experts in telemedicine, as the demand for virtual healthcare services continues to rise, an increasing number of prestigious APRN fellowships are incorporating telemedicine into their curricula.

UC Davis’s Advanced Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Residency highlights telemedicine as one of its primary focus areas, as does Stanford Medicine's Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Fellowship Program. Weill Cornell Department of Emergency Medicine has launched two new tools, Emergency Department Telehealth Express Care and the Center for Virtual Care; NPs accepted into Weill’s postgraduate Emergency Medicine Residency for Nurse Practitioners will spend a lot of time learning how to use these tools effectively.


What is the Starting Salary of a New Grad Telemedicine Nurse Practitioner?


As an entry-level telemedicine NP, you can expect to make $100,150 a year. This is equal to $48.15 an hour, $1,926 a week, or $8,350 a month.

Hourly$48.15
Weekly$1,926
Monthly$8,350
Annual$100,150


What is the Average Salary of a Telemedicine Nurse Practitioner?


The average telemedicine nurse practitioner salary is $142,960 annually, which breaks down to $68.73 hourly, $2,749 weekly, or $11,910 monthly. You can anticipate reaching this target in your 10th year of telemedicine nurse practice.

Hourly$68.73
Weekly$2,749
Monthly$11,910
Annual$142,960
(Source: Nursingprocess.org)


What is the Salary By Level of Experience of a Telemedicine NP?


Efficiency counts in telemedicine: The more patients you interact with satisfactorily, the more successful your employers will judge you to be, and your paycheck will reflect that. But learning the ropes takes time. Thus, telemedicine NPs with one to four years of experience make 18 percent more than those just starting ($118,390 vs. $100,150), while telemedicine NPs with five to nine years of experience earn 39 percent more ($139,440 vs. $100,150.) With 10 to 19 years under your belt, you can count on 55 percent more than your entry-level colleagues ($155,330 vs. $100,150.) And by the time you’ve worked two decades, your salary will be nearly double that of a fresh telemedicine nurse practitioner grad ($189,470 vs. $100,150.)

Level of ExperienceHourlyWeeklyMonthlyAnnual
Entry-Level$48.15$1,926$8,350$100,150
1-4 Years of Experience$56.92$2,277$9,870$118,390
5-9 Years of Experience$67.04$2,682$11,620$139,440
10-19 Years of Experience$74.68$2,987$12,940$155,330
20 Years or More Experience$91.09$3,644$15,790$189,470


What is the Average Salary of a Telemedicine NP By State?


StateHourlyWeeklyMonthlyAnnual
Alabama$58.77$2,351$10,190$122,240
Alaska$64.16$2,566$11,120$133,450
Arizona$66.93$2,677$11,600$139,210
Arkansas$59.04$2,362$10,230$122,810
California$87.17$3,487$15,110$181,310
Colorado$64.19$2,568$11,130$133,510
Connecticut$72.49$2,899$12,560$150,770
Delaware$66.47$2,659$11,520$138,250
Florida$60.81$2,432$10,540$126,480
Georgia$63.64$2,546$11,030$132,370
Hawaii$70.73$2,829$12,260$147,120
Idaho$64.89$2,596$11,250$134,980
Illinois$67.42$2,697$11,690$140,240
Indiana$67.11$2,684$11,630$139,580
Iowa$70.66$2,826$12,250$146,970
Kansas$61.56$2,462$10,670$128,040
Kentucky$60.25$2,410$10,440$125,310
Louisiana$65.16$2,607$11,300$135,540
Maine$65.21$2,608$11,300$135,640
Maryland$65.96$2,638$11,430$137,190
Massachusetts$76.46$3,058$13,250$159,040
Michigan$62.72$2,509$10,870$130,460
Minnesota$70.65$2,826$12,250$146,950
Mississippi$64.64$2,586$11,200$134,450
Missouri$62.39$2,496$10,810$129,770
Montana$66.13$2,645$11,460$137,550
Nebraska$65.58$2,623$11,370$136,410
Nevada$75.10$3,004$13,020$156,200
New Hampshire$69.34$2,773$12,020$144,220
New Jersey$78.97$3,159$13,690$164,250
New Mexico$71.42$2,857$12,380$148,560
New York$77.99$3,119$13,520$162,210
North Carolina$63.09$2,524$10,940$131,230
North Dakota$62.81$2,513$10,890$130,650
Ohio$64.74$2,590$11,220$134,660
Oklahoma$67.11$2,684$11,630$139,590
Oregon$75.11$3,004$13,020$156,230
Pennsylvania$66.45$2,658$11,520$138,220
Rhode Island$69.04$2,762$11,970$143,610
South Carolina$60.16$2,406$10,430$125,130
South Dakota$63.73$2,549$11,050$132,560
Tennessee$54.75$2,190$9,490$113,890
Texas$68.72$2,749$11,910$142,940
Utah$63.73$2,549$11,050$132,560
Vermont$64.28$2,571$11,140$133,710
Virginia$64.49$2,579$11,180$134,130
Washington$74.75$2,990$12,960$155,470
West Virginia$58.87$2,355$10,200$122,450
Wisconsin$66.82$2,673$11,580$138,980
Wyoming$63.52$2,541$11,010$132,120


What is the Job Outlook Like for This Career?


Digital healthcare delivery is one of the fastest-growing fields in medicine. Employment opportunities for telemedicine nurse practitioners are projected to increase by nearly 45 percent between 2022 and 2023.

2022-32
+44.54%


Useful Organizations and Associations

1. The American Telemedicine Association (ATA)

2. International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth



My Final Thoughts


The COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive spike in the deployment of virtual healthcare technologies. And then, on the way to the recovery, a funny thing happened: Patients and healthcare providers alike found they liked the convenience virtual healthcare technologies offer, and usage continued to soar. This article has explored the role of the telemedicine nurse practitioner – what do they do, steps-to-become, and salary. The telemedicine nurse practitioner strives to provide the same high standards of care that patients expect when they visit a healthcare facility in person. It’s a rewarding job that offers, in addition to a very comfortable salary, considerable flexibility when it comes to tailoring your work hours to your lifestyle. Could this be the ideal job for you?


Frequently Asked Questions Answered


1. On Average, How Much Does A Telemedicine NP Make Per Hour?

The average salary of a Telemedicine nurse practitioner per hour is $68.73.

$68.73


2. On Average, How Much Does A Telemedicine NP Make Per Week?

The average salary of a Telemedicine nurse practitioner per week is $2,749.

$2,749


3. On Average, How Much Does A Telemedicine NP Make Per Month?

The average salary of a Telemedicine nurse practitioner per month is $11,910.

$11,910


4. On Average, How Much Does A Telemedicine NP Make Per Year?

The average salary of a Telemedicine nurse practitioner per year is $142,960.

$142,960


List Of Sources Used For This Article


1. 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses: https://bhw.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/bureau-health-workforce/data-research/nssrn-summary-report.pdf
2. Beckers Healthcare Review: Nurses' most common telehealth uses: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/nursing/nurses-most-common-telehealth-uses.html
3. Journal of Nursing Practice: Telehealth Policy and the Advanced Practice Nurse: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10199742/
4. American Association of Nurse Practitioners: https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/advocacy-resource/position-statements/telehealth
5. CareSimple: Defining Remote Patient Monitoring, Telehealth & Other Key Terms in Digital Health: https://caresimple.com/remote-patient-monitoring-telehealth
6. Nursing World: Preparing Nurses for Roles in Telehealth: Now is the Time! https://ojin.nursingworld.org/table-of-contents/volume-26-2021/number-1-january-2021/preparing-nurses-for-roles-in-telehealth-now-is-the-time/#:~:text=The%20nurse%20practicing%20telehealth%20promotes,supports%20end%20of%20life%20care.
7. National Council of State Boards of Nursing: Approval of Nursing Education Programs: https://www.ncsbn.org/nursing-regulation/education/approval-of-nursing-education-programs.page
8. UC Davis’s Advanced Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Residency: https://health.ucdavis.edu/nursing/academics/NPresidency.html
9. Stanford Medicine: https://careers.stanfordhealthcare.org/us/en/advanced-practice-provider-fellowship
10. Weill Cornell Emergency Medicine: https://emed.weill.cornell.edu/education/residency/nurse-practitioner-residency


Pattie Trumble, MPP, MPH
Pattie Trumble is a nurse who worked in both California and New York for many years as an emergency room nurse. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an Associate Degree in Nursing from the Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing. After 10 years of providing direct care, she went back to school and earned concurrent Master’s degrees in both public policy and public health from the University of California, Berkeley. Thereafter, she worked for various public health agencies in California at both the community and state levels providing economic and legislative analysis.