WeekdayDoc Hiring Index · Nurse Practitioners
Nurse Practitioner hiring index, October 2026: the specialties most in demand
Emergency Medicine was the tightest nurse practitioner specialty in October 2026: postings stayed open a median 45 days and 33% stated a sign-on bonus. Measured from live job postings across 50+ sources — share of openings in a fixed source panel, how long postings stay open, how often a sign-on bonus is stated, and job-seeker interest per opening on WeekdayDoc. 16 of 336 nurse practitioner specialties had enough postings and employers to be ranked.
Preliminary: October 2026 is still in progress. Figures update weekly until the month ends, then they are frozen.
Tightest specialty
Emergency Medicine
highest combined score across share change, seeker interest, time to close and sign-on prevalence
Median days a posting stays open
33
across 16 ranked specialties; postings opened 60–150 days earlier that have since closed
Postings stating a sign-on bonus
15%
median across ranked specialties, this month's postings in the source panel
What changed in October 2026
- Tightest: Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Nurse Midwifery, Hospital Medicine, Surgery.
- Share movers: Family Medicine +3.3 pts; Psychiatry +2.7 pts; Urgent Care -1.4 pts; Palliative Care +0.7 pts; Geriatrics -0.6 pts.
- Slowest to fill: Nurse Midwifery (47 days), Emergency Medicine (45 days), Surgery (40 days); median 33 days.
- Sign-on bonuses most common: Emergency Medicine (33%), Urgent Care (33%), Internal Medicine (24%); median 15%.
- Loosest (most seeker competition on WeekdayDoc): Addiction Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Primary Care.
All ranked nurse practitioner specialties
Tightness is the average z-score of share change, seeker interest (inverted), days to close and sign-on prevalence. Interest: 1.0 = the nurse practitioner average on WeekdayDoc. Pay drift: advertised max on re-posted roles, one vote per employer.
| Specialty | Rank | Postings | Share | vs prior 3 mo | Interest | Days to close | Sign-on | Pay drift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency Medicine | 1 | 75 | 1.8% | +0.3 pts | 1.4× | 45 | 33% | — |
| Family Medicine | 2 | 1,050 | 19.0% | +3.3 pts | 1.2× | 33 | 23% | 0.0% |
| Nurse Midwifery | 3 | 114 | 2.6% | -0.4 pts | 0.6× | 47 | 15% | — |
| Hospital Medicine | 4 | 104 | 1.8% | -0.3 pts | 0.4× | 39 | 14% | — |
| Surgery | 5 | 97 | 2.0% | +0.0 pts | 0.4× | 40 | 6% | — |
| Internal Medicine | 6 | 71 | 1.3% | -0.2 pts | 1.2× | 37 | 24% | — |
| Urgent Care | 7 | 283 | 3.7% | -1.4 pts | 0.7× | 32 | 33% | — |
| Geriatrics | 8 | 153 | 3.3% | -0.6 pts | 0.6× | 32 | 22% | — |
| Oncology | 9 | 101 | 2.1% | +0.2 pts | 0.6× | 36 | 4% | — |
| Palliative Care | 10 | 123 | 2.4% | +0.7 pts | 0.7× | 34 | 6% | 0.0% |
| Psychiatry | 11 | 768 | 17.7% | +2.7 pts | 2.5× | 33 | 18% | 0.0% |
| Cardiology | 12 | 116 | 2.5% | -0.1 pts | 1.0× | 34 | 12% | 0.0% |
| Pediatrics | 13 | 69 | 1.7% | -0.4 pts | 1.1× | 30 | 20% | — |
| Primary Care | 14 | 395 | 7.7% | -0.3 pts | 0.7× | 29 | 15% | 0.0% |
| Hospice and Palliative Medicine | 15 | 73 | 1.5% | -0.1 pts | 0.7× | 29 | 0% | — |
| Addiction Medicine | 16 | 86 | 2.0% | -0.3 pts | 2.3× | 27 | 4% | — |
320 further specialties had too few postings or employers to rank. Download this table as CSV.
Charts
Questions this issue answers
Which nurse practitioner specialties were most in demand in October 2026?
Ranked by WeekdayDoc's tightness score (share change, seeker interest per opening, days to close and sign-on prevalence), the tightest nurse practitioner specialties in October 2026 were 1. Emergency Medicine, 2. Family Medicine, 3. Nurse Midwifery, 4. Hospital Medicine, 5. Surgery. 16 specialties had enough postings (60+) from enough employers (12+) to be ranked.
Which nurse practitioner jobs take longest to fill?
Among nurse practitioner postings opened 60–150 days earlier that have since closed, the longest median time open in October 2026 was Nurse Midwifery (47 days), Emergency Medicine (45 days), Surgery (40 days), Hospital Medicine (39 days), Internal Medicine (37 days). The median across ranked specialties was 33 days.
Which nurse practitioner specialties offer sign-on bonuses most often?
In October 2026, the share of postings stating a sign-on bonus was highest for Emergency Medicine (33%), Urgent Care (33%), Internal Medicine (24%), Family Medicine (23%), Geriatrics (22%); the median ranked specialty was 15%. "Stated" means the posting mentions a bonus; many do not give the amount.
Which nurse practitioner specialties are growing or shrinking as a share of postings?
Measured inside a fixed panel of job sources, with each source weighted equally and counting distinct openings rather than duplicate listings, the largest moves in October 2026 versus the prior three-month average were Family Medicine +3.3 pts, Psychiatry +2.7 pts, Urgent Care -1.4 pts, Palliative Care +0.7 pts, Geriatrics -0.6 pts. Shares, not raw counts, are used because the number of listings WeekdayDoc collects changes with its coverage.
Which nurse practitioner specialties had the most competition from other job seekers?
The loosest nurse practitioner markets in October 2026 were Addiction Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Primary Care: more job seekers per opening on WeekdayDoc, faster closes and fewer sign-on bonuses. Seeker interest reflects WeekdayDoc's own audience and is reported only when clearly above or below the nurse practitioner average.
Is advertised nurse practitioner pay rising?
WeekdayDoc compares re-posted roles (same employer, specialty and title, at least 60 days apart), one vote per employer. In October 2026, of 5 specialties with enough re-posts, 5 showed an unchanged advertised maximum and 0 showed an increase of 2% or more. Employers re-posting a role mostly advertise the same range.
How is the WeekdayDoc Hiring Index calculated?
From live job postings on WeekdayDoc (about 145,000 across 50+ sources). Share of openings is measured inside a fixed panel of sources present in every month of the window, each source weighted equally (capped), counting distinct openings (employer + title + state). Days to close uses postings opened 60–150 days earlier that have closed. Sign-on prevalence is the share of this month's postings stating a bonus. Seeker interest is job views per live posting relative to the profession average on WeekdayDoc. Specialties need 60+ postings from 12+ employers to be ranked. Full method: https://www.weekdaydoc.com/hiring-index/methodology.
How should I cite this?
"WeekdayDoc Hiring Index, Nurse Practitioners, October 2026" with a link to this page. Figures on a published issue do not change; the current month is marked preliminary until it ends.
Method and citation
Shares are measured inside a fixed panel of sources present in every month of the window, with each source weighted equally (capped), and count distinct openings (employer + title + state), not rows. Days to close: median lifespan of postings opened 60–150 days earlier that have since closed. Sign-on: share of this month's postings stating a bonus (amount often not given). Seeker interest: job views per live posting relative to the nurse practitioner average on WeekdayDoc — our audience, so it is labelled as such. Pay drift: advertised maximum on re-posted roles (same employer, specialty and title, 60+ days apart), one vote per employer. Specialties need 60+ postings from 12+ employers to be ranked. Full methodology.
Cite as: WeekdayDoc Hiring Index, Nurse Practitioners, October 2026 — https://www.weekdaydoc.com/hiring-index/nurse-practitioners/2026-10. Data: CC BY 4.0 with attribution.