Champion Nursing E-News Alert: HRSA 2008 Nursing Sample Survey

Abstract

The Center to Champion Nursing in America is pleased to share the recently released initial findings of the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The Sample Survey, a leading source of statistics on the nursing profession, is published every four years by HRSA’s Bureau of Health Professions. For the Center, these new data confirm that the U.S. is making progress relevant to our mission to ensure all Americans have a highly-skilled nurse when and where they need one. The nursing profession is growing and more and more nurses are obtaining higher degrees. And the high participation rate (i.e., the number of RNs that are actively practicing nursing) is growing also, which is good news for consumers.

This 2008 statistical report confirms the long-standing notion that registered nurses (RNs) are among the fasted growing U.S. health care professions. Between 2004 and 2008, this segment of the workforce grew to a high of 3.1 million. This more than 5 percent increase reflects another growing trend—increasing diversity among nurses.

The estimated number of RNs with master’s or doctorate degrees rose to 404,163 in 2008, an increase of 46.9 percent from 2004 and up from 85,860 in 1980. As of 2008, an estimated 290,085 RNs had achieved master’s degrees in nursing as their highest degree, with another 13,140 RNs having achieved doctoral degrees in nursing. An estimated 15,229 RNs achieved doctoral degrees in a related field.

For every 100,000 people, there are 854 RNs, up from 825 in 2004, but with variations from state to state. Utah has the fewest with 598 RNs for each 100,000 people. The District of Columbia has the most with 1,868 per 100,000.

Most RNs are actively practicing nursing (84.8 percent—the highest in the history of the survey) and most are working full time (63.2 percent versus 58.4 percent in 2004—the first increase since 1996).

Read the report here.