10/02 Survey Results of Nursing in PA...

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

august 4, 2003

health department releases combined data from survey of registered nurses

http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?a=190&question_id=235042

data will provide objective information for policymakers, educators and employers

harrisburg: department of health secretary dr. calvin b. johnson today announced the results of a statewide comprehensive survey of registered nurses (rns) in pennsylvania who renewed their licenses in april 2002 and october 2002.

"this survey is one of a series being conducted by the department of health to gain a better understanding of the challenges facing the health-care workforce in pennsylvania," secretary johnson said. "we are committed to collecting and providing objective data that will provide an accurate assessment of the nurse workforce for legislators, policymakers, educators, employers, and health-care researchers."

major findings from the report include:

*69.2 percent of nurses employed in health care in pennsylvania reported that they were full-time employees. 30.8 percent indicated they worked part-time;

*most nurses employed in health care in pennsylvania work in hospitals (58.3 percent), while 9.7 percent work in nursing homes, 6.7 percent work in physician offices and 6.3 percent work in home-health agencies;

*the average age of a registered nurse employed in health care in pennsylvania was 44.8 years;

*the age distribution of the rn workforce employed in health care in pennsylvania differs from that of the state's population in general. 17.2 percent of nurses responded that they were between the ages of 20 to 34. by contrast, 25.6 percent of pennsylvania's population age 20 and over is in this age bracket;

12.8 percent of nurses employed in health care in pennsylvania reported working mandatory overtime in the past two weeks. 87.2 percent indicated that they did not work mandatory overtime;

*by and large, rns in pennsylvania seem satisfied with both their jobs and careers, with 84.2 percent rating themselves as very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their jobs;

however, 45.6 percent of rns employed in health care in pennsylvania indicated that they planned to leave nursing within the next 10 years. this included 29.2 percent of nurses in the 20-34 age bracket;

in the cohort of rns from the october 2002 survey, 63.4 percent were between the ages of 20-24 when they graduated from basic nursing education;

according to the october 2002 survey results, 85 percent of all rns employed in health care in pennsylvania and 85 percent of all rns employed in pennsylvania with specialty certifications were trained in pennsylvania;

*the largest percentage of specialty nurses trained in pennsylvania was certified nurse anesthetists at 90 percent and the smallest percentage trained in pennsylvania was certified nurse midwives at 41 percent.

*77.4 percent of rns responding to the survey work in health care;

*84.9 percent of the 59,985 rns licensed in pennsylvania responding to the survey who indicated that they were employed in health care and who provided a state of employment were employed in pennsylvania. fifteen percent are employed in other states;

there are approximately 194,000 rns and 48,000 licensed practical nurses (lpns) licensed in pennsylvania. the report is based on the cumulative responses of more than 83,000 rns who renewed their licenses in april 2002 and october 2002.

the department of health collaborated with the department of state's bureau of professional and occupational affairs to include a simple, anonymous survey with each application for re-licensure. the report provides demographic, educational, employment, and job and career satisfaction characteristics. in addition to the questions included in the april 2002 rn survey, six new questions were added to the october 2002 survey:

the questions were:

year of graduation from basic nursing education;

state in which basic nursing education was received;

state in which first rn license was received;

year first rn license issued;

year of graduation from advanced program; and,

state where advanced program was located.

since these questions were asked only of the october 2002 group of respondents, the results are presented separately in a section of the report entitled, "education of rns employed in health care in pennsylvania, october 2002."

data were collected on non-renewers in the october 2002 survey that included age, state of residence and non-response category (e.g.; license expired, request for inactive status, death and disciplinary action). while these data do not directly address the reasons for non-renewal, such as a decision to leave the profession or a temporary hiatus from work to raise children may be useful in assessing some general characteristics of non-renewers.

the survey results build upon information previously released in three other reports:

the "state health improvement plan (ship) special report on the characteristics of the registered nurse population in pennsylvania," which presented survey results of more than 40,000 rns who renewed their licenses in april 2002 only;

the "ship special report on the characteristics of the licensed practical nurse population in pennsylvania," which presented survey results from 95 percent of licensed practical nurses who renewed their licenses in pennsylvania in 2002; and

the "ship report on the status of nursing education programs in pennsylvania," which provided data about pre-licensure rn and lpn educational programs in the commonwealth. the report provides survey results on a statewide, as well as a county-by-county, basis.

for a copy of the complete report as well as previous reports, visit the department of health at http://www.health.state.pa.us.

# # #

2003

commonwealth of pennsylvania

department of health

commonwealth news bureau

room 308, main capitol

harrisburg, pa 17120

contact: jessica seiders

[phone]

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Highlighted areas of this report---clearly reflects stress of nursing workplace conditions today that so many young persons leaving the field. Won't see people like myself with 30 year careers in healthcare anymore.... what a loss of knowledge.

[futurernfarmer]

I can only hope I will be one of those lifers. I have a plan, and it involves a secure job and a farm. Burnout would ruin that.