CONTACT: Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
MEDIA BACKGROUNDER
(February 2004)
NURSING FACT SHEET
Misconceptions about nursing have contributed to misinformation
about the profession in the media. Journalists should know these facts:
- Nursing
is the nation's largest health care profession, with more than 2.7
million registered nurses nationwide. Of all licensed RNs, 2.2
million, or 81.7 percent, are employed in nursing. 1
- Nursing students
account for more than half (52 percent) of all health professions
students in the United States. 2
- Nurses comprise
the largest single component of hospital staff, are the primary
providers of hospital patient care, and deliver most of the nation's
long-term care.
- Most health
care services involve some form of care by nurses. In 1980, 66
percent of all employed RNs worked in hospitals. By 2000, that number
had declined to 59 percent as more health care moved to sites beyond
the hospital and nurses increased their ranks in a wide range of other
settings, including private practices, health maintenance organizations,
public health agencies, primary care clinics, home health care, nursing
homes, outpatient surgicenters, nursing-school-operated nursing centers,
insurance and managed care companies, schools, mental health agencies,
hospices, the military, industry, nursing education, and health care
research. 3
- Though often
working collaboratively, nursing does not "assist" medicine
or other fields. Nursing operates independent of, not auxiliary
to, medicine and other disciplines. Nurses' roles range from direct
patient care and case management to establishing nursing practice
standards, developing quality assurance procedures, and directing
complex nursing care systems.
- With more
than four times as many RNs in the United States as physicians,
nursing delivers an extended array of health care services, including
primary and preventive care by advanced nurse practitioners in such
areas as pediatrics, family health, women's health, and gerontological
care. Nursing's scope also includes services by certified nurse-midwives
and nurse anesthetists, as well as care in cardiac, oncology, neonatal,
neurological, and obstetric/gynecological nursing and other advanced
clinical specialties.
- The primary
pathway to professional nursing, as compared to technical-level practice,
is the four-year Bachelor of Science degree in nursing (BSN).
Registered nurses are prepared either through a BSN program; a two-
to three-year associate degree in nursing program; or a three-year
hospital training program, receiving a hospital diploma. All take
the same state licensing exam. (The number of diploma programs
has declined steadily -- to less than 10 percent of all basic RN education
programs -- as nursing education has shifted from hospital-operated
instruction into the college and university system.)
- To meet the
more complex demands of today's health care environment, a federal
advisory panel has recommended that at least two-thirds of the basic
nurse workforce hold baccalaureate or higher degrees in nursing by
2010. 4 Aware of the need, RNs are seeking the BSN
degree in increasing numbers. In 1980, almost 55 percent of employed
registered nurses held a hospital diploma as their highest educational
credential, 22 percent held the bachelor's degree, and 18 percent
an associate degree. By 2000, a diploma was the highest educational
credential for only 22.3 percent of employed RNs, while the number
with bachelor's degrees as their highest education had climbed to
32.7 percent, with 34.3 percent holding an associate degree as their
top academic preparation. 5 In 2003, 9,856 RNs with diplomas
or associate degrees graduated from BSN programs. 6
- In 2000,
9.6 percent and 0.6 percent of employed RNs, respectively, held a
master's or doctoral degree as their highest educational preparation.
7 However, the demand for master's- and doctorally
prepared nurses for advanced practice, clinical specialties, teaching,
and research roles far outstrips the supply.
- According
to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Registered Nursing is the
occupation with the largest job growth from 2002 - 2012. 8
Other federal projections indicate that by 2020, the U.S. nursing
shortage will grow to more than 800,000 registered nurses. 9
Even as
health care continues to shift beyond the hospital to more community-based
primary care and other outpatient sites, federal projections say the
rising complexity of acute care will see demand for RNs in hospitals
climb by 36 percent by 2020. 10
# # #
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is
the national voice for university and four-year-college education programs
in nursing. Representing 575 member schools of nursing at public and
private institutions nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental
advocacy, databank, publications, and other programs work to establish
quality standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing education,
assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence the
nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public support
of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research, and practice.
REFERENCES
-
Division
of Nursing. (March 2000). The Registered Nurse Population: Findings
from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
-
Health Resources
and Services Administration. (September 1992). Health Personnel
in the United States, 1991: Eighth Report to Congress, p. 215
and other tables. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
-
See Note
1.
-
National
Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice. (October 1996).
Report to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Services on the Basic Registered Nurse Workforce. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Nursing.
-
See Note
1.
-
American
Association of Colleges of Nursing (2004). 2003-2004 Enrollment
and graduations in baccalaureate and graduate programs in nursing.
Washington, DC: Author.
-
See Note
1.
-
Hecker,
D.E. (2004). Occupational Employment Projections to 2012.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
-
Health
Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions.
(2002). Projected Supply, Demand and Shortages of Registered
Nurses: 2000-2020. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
-
See Note
4.
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