Nursing Workforce

Illinois RN: population ratio “The National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses” reported Illinois had an estimated total of 138,092 RNs in 2004. 82.4% (113,779) of them were employed in nursing at that time.10 Illinois has 895 employed nurses per 100,000 population. The “State” with the most RNs per population is Washington D.C. where there are 2093 RNs for every 100,000 people. New Hampshire comes in second with 1283. The state with the poorest nurse to population ratio is California with 590 RNs per 100,000. States comparable to Illinois in population and rural versus urban areas include New York, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. This statistic for those states and for some of the states bordering Illinois are listed below for comparison.

¹⁰ HRSA, The Registered Nurse Population, National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses 2004, Preliminary Findings

Listed below are some other statistics about the nursing workforce as reported in the 2004 National Sample Survey:

• There was an estimated increase of 7.9% in the number of RNs living and working in the US between 2000 (2.7 million) and 2004 (2.9 million).
• Approximately 2.4 million RNs (83%) were employed in nursing in 2004, with1.7 million (70 % of working nurses) of them working full-time and 725,000 (30%) working part-time.
• In March 2004, the average age of the RN population was estimated to be 46.8 years. 26.6% of RNs were under the age of 40, 16.6% were under 35 and only 8.1% were below 30 years old. In 2004 the largest estimated number of RNs was the 45 to 49 year group and almost 60% of RNs were older than 45. It is estimated that approximately 300,000 of the 2.9 million RNs in the US are over the age of 60.
• The number of men in nursing went up from 5.4% in 2000 to 5.7% in 2004.
• About 12.3 percent of the RN population indicated they were in one of the non-White racial ethnic minority groups identified in the 2000 survey. In 2004, 4.6 percent were Black/African American, non-Hispanic, 3.3 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic, 1.8 percent were Hispanic and 0.4 percent were American Indian/Alaskan Native. 1.5percent were from two or more racial backgrounds.

The National Sample Survey found five major employment settings for RNs:

• hospitals
• nursing homes and extended care facilities
• community and public health settings including state and local health departments, visiting nursing services and other health agencies, community health centers, student health services, occupational services and school health
• nursing education
• ambulatory care settings.

In March 2004 it was estimated that 1.36 million nurses worked in hospital settings, the largest employment setting for nurses with community and public health settings the second largest employer with 360,000 RN employees. The most growth occurred in the ambulatory care settings (physician offices/ clinics, nurse-based practices, and health maintenance organizations). In 2000 9.5% of nurses worked in these settings compared to 11.5% or approximately 280,000 nurses in 2004.

Average earnings.
According to the National Sample Survey, the “actual average annual earnings of RNs employed full-time in 2004 were $57,784. The survey compared “real earnings” [average earnings inflated by the consumer price index (CPI) for 1980-2004] over the years and found that between 2000 and 2004 nurses increased “real earnings” by 12.8%.

The Illinois Center for Nursing (www.nursing.illinois.gov) reports; ¹¹
Median annual earnings of registered nurses were $52,330 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $43,370 and $63,360. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $37,300, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $74,760. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of registered nurses in May 2004 were as follows:

The number of Advanced Practice Nurses increased from 196,000 in 2000 to 240,461 in 2004.

The National Sample Survey also reported that in 2004 “ a total of 17 states had an arrangement, called a “Compact” such that RNs who are living and licensed in one Compact State, can practice in other Compact States without needing additional license(s). An estimated 22.9 percent of RNs resided and were licensed in Compact States.

Satisfaction with Nursing Positions
The 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses found 78% of nurses were satisfied with their current employment positions and that there was an overall turnover rate of 11.4 percent. (Left their employer during the previous year.)
Those that left their work in nursing stated they left for the following reasons in descending order of most responses:

Personal Career reasons
Personal or family reasons
Reasons connected with the workplace
Retirement (33.8 percent or 164,946 in 2004)

According to the Illinois Hospital Association turnover rates in Illinois hospitals were as presented in the table below.

Turnover of Nurse Personnel in Hospitals 2001-2003 ¹²

Demand for Nurses
The number of potential caregivers, including nurses, is projected to decrease 4.2 percent between 2000 and 2020, while the number of those who need care is projected to increase by 31 percent. All told, by 2020 Illinois could be facing a shortage of over 21,000 nurses. According to region-by-region numbers put together by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), the state currently has a nursing shortage of 7 percent (vacancies vs. jobs filled) and that shortage is projected to grow to almost 8,000 registered nurses and 1,200 licensed practical nurses (per year, projected through 2010). ¹³

According to the Illinois Hospital Association, the statewide vacancy rate for RN Staff Nurses in hospitals decreased from 9.3% in 2002 to 8% in 2004. Hospitals consider a critical nursing shortage to be vacancy rates over 7.0%.

Vacancy Rates (percent of budgeted positions vacant) in Illinois Hospitals, 2001-2004 ¹⁴

¹⁰ HRSA, The Registered Nurse Population, National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses 2004, Preliminary Findings
¹¹ Illinois Center for Nursing, www.nursing.illinois.gov
¹² Illinois Hospital Association Surveys: Nursing Personnel Survey, June 2001, The Illinois Hospital Workforce 2002, and IHA 2004 Hospital Workforce Survey
¹³ IDFPR Press Release, “Appointment of Nursing Act Coordinator, July, 2006
¹⁴ Illinois Hospital Association Surveys: Nursing Personnel Survey, June 2001, The Illinois Hospital Workforce 2002, and IHA 2004 Hospital Workforce Survey