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Workforce Fast Facts

 Nursing doctorate degrees on the rise
There were an estimated 28,369 RNs with a doctorate degree in nursing or a nursing-related field in 2008, which is an increase of 64.4 percent since 2000.
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
Nurses and other aides needed
The number of home health aide jobs is projected to grow, from 920,000 in 2008 to 1.38 million in 2018. Over the same time, 276,000 jobs will be created for nursing aides, orderlies and attendants, and 376,000 jobs for personal and home care aides. In all, by 2018, nearly 1.7 million new jobs are expected to be created for nurses, home health aides, nursing aides, and orderlies and attendants. That accounts for more than 11 percent of all new jobs likely to be created in that period.
Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
Common degrees for registered nurses
The percentage of registered nurses whose highest degree is a nursing diploma has declined over the last 30 years from 54.7 percent in 1980 to 13.9 percent in 2008. Advanced degrees are increasingly common, as well: 13.2 percent of nurses held master's or doctorates in 2008, up from 5.2 percent in 1980.
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
Nursing education
In all, 36.8 percent of nurses have bachelor's degrees (up from 22.3 percent in 1980), while 36.1 percent of nurses have associate degrees (up from 17.9 percent in 1980).
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
Average age of registered nurses
The average age of registered nurses held relatively steady over the last four years, increasing from 46.8 years to 47.0 years. This slight increase arrests a long-term trend toward an older nursing workforce. In 2000, the average age was 45.2 years, and in 1996, it was 44.3 years. Nevertheless, nearly 45 percent of registered nurses were 50 years of age or older in 2008, meaning that high retirement rates are in the near future.
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
Men in the nursing profession
Women continue to outnumber men in the nursing profession, by more than 15 to 1 in 2008. But the trend line is toward more diversity. Among those who became registered nurses after 1990, the ratio is just 10 to 1. Men account for 6.6 percent of the nursing population today, up from less than 3 percent in 1980.
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
Diversity in nursing workforce
The U.S. nursing workforce is increasingly diverse, although white women are still over-represented. White non-Hispanics (65.6 percent of U.S. population) are 83.2 percent of licensed registered nurses (RNs). Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders are the next largest group at 5.8 percent (4.5 percent of U.S. population). African Americans are 5.4 percent of RNs (12.2 percent of the U.S. population), and Hispanics are 3.6 percent of RNs (15.4 percent of U.S. population).
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
U.S. nursing workforce practice
The great majority of the nation's nurses, 84.4 percent, are still in practice, and 63.2 percent are working full-time.
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
Nation faces nursing shortages
The nation faces a shortage of 250,000 nurses by 2025 as the result of several trends, including the increased need for health care for aging Baby Boomers and the influx of new patients into the system as a result of health care reform.
Source:  Health Affairs
Fewest and most registered nurses
In 2008, Utah had the fewest registered nurses per person with 598 per 100,000 people, while the District of Columbia has the most, with 1,868 per 100,000.
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
Nursing ratios
The nation had 854 nurses per 100,000 people in 2008, up from 825 nurses per 100,000 people in 2004. That ratio varies from state to state.
Source:  Health Resources and Services Administration
Nursing profession to add the most jobs
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nursing is poised to add more jobs to the nation's economy over the next decade than any other single profession. By 2018, more than 580,000 new jobs for registered nurses will be created, with an additional 460,000 jobs for home health care workers. Together the two professions will account for nearly 7 percent of all new jobs created in the United States during the period.
Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
Shortage of Primary Care Practitioners
There are over 800,000 practicing physicians and residents currently in the United States, but only 32 percent designate themselves principally as primary care practitioners (PCPs), namely, practitioners of family medicine, general internal medicine, and general pediatrics.
Source:  U.S. Government Accountability Office
Nursing workforce
With more than 3 million members, the nursing profession is the largest segment of the nation's health care workforce.
Source:  Institute of Medicine
Health care workforce adds jobs
In March 2011, the health care sector of the nation's economy continued to grow, adding more than 37,000 new jobs. Over the last 12 months, health care has added 283,000 jobs, or an average of 24,000 jobs per month.
Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor

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