Chart 7. Distribution of registered nurses by employment settings, in thousands, 1980-2004****


Horizontal Bar chart with 6 groups with 7 items per group.
Group 1, Other** 
Item 1, 1980 22 
Item 2, 1984 21 
Item 3, 1988 43 
Item 4, 1992 56 
Item 5, 1996 83 
Item 6, 2000 81 
Item 7, 2004 156 
Group 2, Nursing Education*** 
Item 1, 1980 48 
Item 2, 1984 40 
Item 3, 1988 30 
Item 4, 1992 37 
Item 5, 1996 49 
Item 6, 2000 47 
Item 7, 2004 63 
Group 3, Nursing Homes/Extended Care 
Item 1, 1980 101 
Item 2, 1984 115 
Item 3, 1988 108 
Item 4, 1992 129 
Item 5, 1996 171 
Item 6, 2000 153 
Item 7, 2004 153 
Group 4, Ambulatory Care 
Item 1, 1980 103 
Item 2, 1984 129 
Item 3, 1988 159 
Item 4, 1992 144 
Item 5, 1996 179 
Item 6, 2000 209 
Item 7, 2004 278 
Group 5, Public/Community Health* 
Item 1, 1980 158 
Item 2, 1984 167 
Item 3, 1988 181 
Item 4, 1992 250 
Item 5, 1996 363 
Item 6, 2000 402 
Item 7, 2004 360 
Group 6, Hospital 
Item 1, 1980 836 
Item 2, 1984 1012 
Item 3, 1988 1105 
Item 4, 1992 1233 
Item 5, 1996 1271 
Item 6, 2000 1300 
Item 7, 2004 1361 

* Public/Community Health includes school and occupational health
**Other includes positions in insurance claims/benefits, policy/planning/regulatory/licensing, correctional facilities, private duty, and home based self employment.
***For 2004, this Nursing Education category collectively includes not only RN, LPN/LVN, but also allied health, medical school, and consumer education settings. 55,910 are in RN and LPN/LVN education settings in 2004, regardless of position. The difference accounts for some of the increase from earlier surveys in the Nursing Education category.
****The total numbers of RNs across all settings of employment may not equal the total estimated numbers of nurses due to incomplete information provided by respondents on settings and the effect of rounding. Only those who provided setting information are included in the calculations used for this chart. 

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