PA LPN Survey Rsults

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Sep 7, 2003

a report on the june, 2002 survey of licensed practical nurses

...this report was designed to provide answers to some frequently asked questions about lpns in pennsylvania,

such as:

* how many lpns currently work in health care in pennsylvania? what is their level of academic preparation, and in what types of schools did they receive their training?

* what is the demographic makeup of the lpn employed in health care in pennsylvania? what is their average age? what is the racial composition of the lpn work force?

* how are lpns working in health care in pennsylvania distributed among pennsylvania counties? how are they distributed among various sectors of the health care industry in pennsylvania?

* how do lpns feel about their jobs and their careers?

http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/health/lpnreport.pdf

some interesting results:

* the average age of lpns employed in health care in pennsylvania is 45.2.

*95.9 percent of lpns employed in healthcare in pennsylvania are female, 4.1 percent are male. by comparison, 52.7 percent of the population of pennsylvania age 18 and older is female, and 47.3 percent are male.

*83 percent of lpns employed in healthcare in pennsylvania provide direct patient

care.

*84 percent of lpns employed in healthcare in pennsylvania in direct patient care

were either "somewhat satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their job.

*nursing homes provided employment for 41 percent of lpns employed in health care in pennsylvania, hospitals 24 percent, physician or dentists' office 13 percent, and home health agencies, 6 percent

* 73% work full-time, 27% work part-time

mandatory overtime

36 percent of lpns employed in state inpatient facilities and 31 percent of lpns employed in military/federal facilities reported mandatory overtime.

job satisfaction is linked to working conditions such as mandatory overtime. in the survey, 23 percent of lpns who reported mandatory overtime responded that they were either "very dissatisfied" or "dissatisfied" with the job, compared to 14 percent of the lpns with no mandatory overtime.

intent to remain in nursing

one indicator of job/career satisfaction is the intent to remain in nursing. in the survey, 17 percent of lpn indicated that

they would be likely to leave nursing within the next five years. 23 percent indicated they would be likely to leave within 6-10 years.

o 20 percent of lpns under the age of 35 responded that they are planning to leave nursing within the next ten years.

o the intent to remain in nursing was linked to career satisfaction, with 32 percent of lpns who responded that they planned to remain in nursing for 5 years or less expressing dissatisfaction with their careers.