Survey: Nursing workforce diversity up, job satisfaction down

Apr 01, 2024 - 03:04 PM
Nurse Leaders COVID 900x400

The nursing workforce is becoming more diverse and highly educated, but less satisfied with their job, according to the latest National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration between December 2022 and April 2023. Black and Asian RNs now constitute 11% and 9% of the RN workforce, respectively, compared to 8% and 5% in the 2018 survey. Over 45% of nurses entered the workforce with a bachelor’s degrees, up from 39% in 2018. While overall job satisfaction remains relatively high at 80%, the share of nurses who expressed some degree of dissatisfaction with their primary nursing position nearly doubled between 2017 and 2022 to 19.9%.

Hospitals remain the largest employer of nurses at 60%. About four in 10 registered nurses who left the nursing workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic said they intended to return to nursing, while two in 10 said they did not intend to return and the rest were unsure. If workforce patterns remain unchanged, the survey results suggest that demand for RNs in 2036 will exceed supply by 9%, resulting in a shortage of 337,970 full-time equivalent RNs, HRSA said. 

Related News Articles

Headline
AHA podcast: The Right Kind of Research — AcademyHealth Unveils a Roadmap to Advance Research Equity 
In this conversation, Margo Edmunds, director of the AcademyHealth Center on Diversity, Inclusion and Minority Engagement, discusses the benefits its Roadmap…
Chairperson's File
Chair File: Thank You This Week and Every Day to Our Incredible Health Care Workforce
In October 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln decreed that Thanksgiving be held across the U.S. to “heal the wounds of the nation…
Headline
AHA blog: Creating a Culture of Connection — Combating Isolation and Loneliness in the Health Care Workforce 
After noticing widespread loneliness among rural hospital staff, Margo Karsten, Banner Health Western Region president and AHA Policy Board member, was…
Headline
CMS awards third round of Medicare-funded residency slots to hospitals 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Nov. 21 announced the allocation of 200 new Medicare-funded residency slots to more than 100 teaching…
Headline
Congress urged by AHA, others to include workforce programs for foreign-born staff in end-of-year spending bill 
The AHA and dozens of other organizations Nov. 20 urged House and Senate leaders to include bipartisan workforce legislation in the end-of-year spending…
Blog
Creating a Culture of Connection: Combating Isolation and Loneliness in the Health Care Workforce
No one goes into the health care field unless they want to care for people, but often we care for others so much that accepting care for ourselves is difficult…