The Registered Nurse Population: Findings from the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses

HRSA - U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Service Administration

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The Registered Nurse Population: Findings from the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses

Tables

Table Index

Table 1. Registered nurse population, by employment status, gender, racial/ethnic background, and age group: March 2004

Gender, racial/ethnic background and age group	Number in sample	Total Estimated		Employment status
				Employed in nursing			Not employed in nursing
				Number in sample	Estimated		Number in sample	Estimated
		Number	Percent	Number in sample	Number	Percent	Number in sample	Number	Percent
Total	35,635	2,909,357	100.0	30,233	2,421,351	100.0	5,402	488,006	100.0

Gender
Male	2,166	168,181	5.8	1,937	148,642	6.1	229	19,539	4.0
Female	33,454	2,740,144	94.2	28,283	2,271,717	93.8	5,171	468,427	96.0
Not known	15	1,033	0.0	13	993	0.0	2	40	0.0

Racial/ethnic background
White (non-hispanic)	29,561	2,380,529	81.8	24,958	1,966,330	81.2	4,603	414,199	84.9
Black/African American (non-hispanic)	1,297	122,495	4.2	1,146	106,644	4.4	151	15,850	3.2
Asian (non-hispanic)	963	84,383	2.9	863	75,943	3.1	100	8,440	1.7
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (non-hisp)	65	5,594	0.2	55	4,613	0.2	10	981	0.2
American Indian/Alaska Native (non-hisp)	157	9,453	0.3	141	8,347	0.3	16	1,106	0.2
Hispanic/Latino (any race)	512	48,009	1.7	450	42,262	1.7	62	5,747	1.2
Two or more races (non-hispanic)	519	41,244	1.4	451	35,554	1.5	68	5,690	1.2
Not known	2,561	217,651	7.5	2,169	181,658	7.5	392	35,993	7.4

Age group
Less than 25	609	61,778	2.1	588	59,592	2.5	21	2,186	0.4
25-29	2,117	171,659	5.9	1,981	159,676	6.6	136	11,983	2.5
30-34	3,053	243,182	8.4	2,794	221,052	9.1	259	22,130	4.5
35-39	3,646	289,525	10.0	3,280	256,967	10.6	366	32,557	6.7
40-44	4,996	408,248	14.0	4,481	360,249	14.9	515	47,999	9.8
45-49	6,407	508,708	17.5	5,718	449,797	18.6	689	58,910	12.1
50-54	5,816	463,565	15.9	5,160	406,748	16.8	656	56,817	11.6
55-59	4,099	338,078	11.6	3,361	271,264	11.2	738	66,814	13.7
60-64	2,477	210,196	7.2	1,667	136,191	5.6	810	74,006	15.2
65 and over	2,085	185,254	6.4	928	75,305	3.1	1,157	109,949	22.5
Not known	330	29,165	1.0	275	24,511	1.0	55	4,655	1.0

Average age		46.8			45.4			54.1
Median age		47.0			46.0			55.0

NOTE: Estimated numbers may not equal totals, and percents may not add to 100, because of rounding

Table 2. Year of graduation from initial nursing education and the average age at graduation for the registered nurse population, by type of initial nurse education: March 2004

Year of graduation/age at graduation from initial nursing education	Number in sample	Total Estimated		Type of Initial Nursing Education
		Total Estimated		Diploma		Associate Degree		Baccalaureate and higher degree
		Number*	Percent	Diploma		Associate Degree		Baccalaureate and higher degree
		Number*	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total	35,635	2,909,357	100.0	733,377	100.0	1,227,256	100.0	902,625	100.0

Year of graduation from initial nursing education
2000 or later	3,103	265,243	9.1	7,377	1.0	151,005	12.3	105,922	11.7
1995-1999	4,968	386,296	13.3	22,360	3.0	218,476	17.8	144,766	16.0
1990-1994	4,971	383,182	13.2	32,629	4.4	230,913	18.8	118,072	13.1
1985-1989	4,157	336,771	11.6	43,476	5.9	173,976	14.2	117,783	13.0
1984 or earlier	17,780	1,483,436	51.0	623,368	85.0	442,643	36.1	411,283	45.6
Not known	656	54,430	1.9	4,169	0.6	10,244	0.8	4,800	0.5

Average age at graduation by year of graduation		All Graduates		Diploma		Associate Degree		Baccalaureate and Higher
2000 or later		29.6		31.8		31.8		26.3
1995-1999		31.0		30.2		33.3		27.5
1990-1994		31.0		28.9		33.2		27.2
1985-1989		28.4		25.5		31.0		25.5
1984 or earlier		23.8		22.0		26.7		23.4

* Includes 14,979 nurses whose initial nursing education was in a master's degree program, 532 in a doctoral degree program, and 46,098 for whose initial nursing education was not known.

NOTE: Estimated numbers may not equal totals, and percents may not add to 100, because of rounding

Table 3. Health occupation prior to initial nursing education, by type of initial nursing education: March 2004

Health occupation prior to initial nursing education**	Number in sample	Total Estimated		Type of Initial Nursing Education
		Total Estimated		Diploma		Associate Degree		Baccalaureate and higher degree
		Number*	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent

Total	19,160	1,512,066	100.0	257,530	17.0	797,925	52.8	451,499	29.9

Nursing Aide	12,631	977,354	100.0	186,929	19.1	460,759	47.1	326,650	33.4
Licensed practical/vocational nurse	4,729	364,527	100.0	28,644	7.9	292,365	80.2	41,927	11.5
Allied health	2,327	184,266	100.0	19,886	10.8	115,161	62.5	48,427	26.3
Manager in health care setting	455	37,922	100.0	3,712	9.6	25,125	66.1	8,921	23.5
Clerk in health care setting	2,574	208,797	100.0	26,110	12.5	117,074	56.1	64,973	31.1
Allied health position	490	38,429	100.0	5,896	15.3	20,215	52.6	12,070	31.4
Volunteer	190	16,392	100.0	7,786	47.5	4,014	24.5	4,565	27.8
Home health/personal services aide	226	19,739	100.0	1,868	9.5	10,265	52.0	7,606	38.5
Student nurse	123	9,772	100.0	1,447	14.8	1,901	19.5	6,328	64.8
Counselor/social worker/activity therapists/Chaplain	131	10,667	100.0	856	8.0	5,431	50.9	4,162	39.0
Other services or support aide personnel in health care	122	8,934	100.0	3,555	39.8	2,642	29.6	2,664	29.8
Armed services medic/corpsman or similar role	176	13,486	100.0	2,088	15.5	7,377	54.7	3,919	29.1
Other non-health related work	56	4,687	100.0	1,042	22.8	2,318	49.4	1,328	28.3
Other health	491	40,260	100.0	6,379	15.8	19,152	47.6	14,481	36.0

*Includes 5,304 nurses whose initial education was unknown
**Health occupation entries may add to more than the total because more than one occupation may have been named by an individual RN
NOTE: Estimated numbers may not equal totals, and percents may not add to 100, because of rounding

Table 4. Registered nurses who were ever licensed as practical/vocational nurse, by type of initial nursing education: March 2004

Year of graduation/age at graduation from initial nursing education after being LPN/LVN	Number in sample	Total Estimated		Type of Initial Nursing Education
		Total Estimated		Diploma		Associate Degree		Baccalaureate and higher degree
		Number*	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total	6,186	484,809	100.0	45,633	100.0	362,046	100.0	75,061	100.0

Year of graduation from initial nursing education
2000 or later	740	53,273	11.0	533	1.2	47,931	13.2