The number of nurse practitioners hit a new record high, according to data released by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. More than 248,000 nurse practitioners are currently licensed to practice in the US, up from an estimated 120,000 in 2007.

“This is an important milestone for patients as well as for NPs,” said AANP President Joyce Knestrick. “Provider shortages, especially in primary care, have become a growing concern, but the growth of the NP profession is addressing that concern head-on.”

And the nurse practitioner workforce is growing at a fast rate, according to the professional membership organization for nurse practitioners. An additional 23,000 new nurse practitioners graduated from programs in the 2015-2016 academic year, up 3,000 graduates, or 15.5%, from the 2014-2015 academic year.

The latest data from AANP’s annual survey found 74.1% of the nurse practitioner workforce worked full-time; 58.6% of full-time nurse practitioners worked overtime; and 35.4% of full-time nurse practitioners took evening and weekend on-call shifts.