2024 Study Highlights
This study used a mixed-mode approach to capture a representative sample of the nursing workforce in the U.S. A survey was mailed to a randomized sample of licensed RNs and LPNs/LVNs in 24 jurisdictions, supplemented by an email-based survey to a randomized sample of licensed RNs and LPNs/LVNs in 18 jurisdictions, and data from Nursys e-Notify for 10 jurisdictions. Data from RN and LPN/LVN respondents were collected between March 25, 2024, and December 31, 2024. A total of 744,714 RNs and 137,902 LPN/VNs participated in the study.
A formal nonresponse bias analysis was conducted after the survey closed, and weighting was applied prior to the final analysis of the responses. The weights adjust the distribution across states, age, and gender but sum to the actual number of RNs and LPNs/LVNs in the subsets of completed responses.
Two Years of Change: Impact on Employment
The 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study represents the largest and most comprehensive national survey of the U.S. nursing workforce. During the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nursing workforce underwent a dramatic shift characterized by heightened workplace burnout, increased workloads, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of experienced RNs and LPNs/LVNs. In the past 2 years, the workforce has exhibited greater stability, marked by a return to a more typical age distribution. Trends further confirm continued progress in diversifying and increasing the educational attainment of the nursing workforce. Inflation and increased demand for nursing services have likely also contributed to notable increases in RN and LPN/LVN salaries.
Despite moderate reductions in the levels of emotional distress and burnout nurses reported during the pandemic, large proportions of the RN (40%) and LPN/LVN (41%) workforces still reported plans to leave the profession in the next 5 years. These parallel findings may be indicative of two factors that could influence the composition of the nursing workforce in the years to come. First, continued structural issues such as short staffing and the accompanying high workloads that pre-dated the pandemic. Second, the re-entry of more experienced nurses to the workforce, while unquestionably an immediate and short-term benefit, may represent a more temporary phenomenon depending on their revised retirement timelines.
Regardless, elevated intent to leave, while more informative than predictive, remains a primary concern moving forward as retirements coupled with experiences of stress and burnout were consistently reported as core reasons for nurses who left the workforce in the prior 4 years. Continued efforts to retain more experienced nurses and otherwise address longstanding factors associated with nurses’ premature intent to leave, such as burnout, insufficient staffing, and high workloads, are necessary to ensure sustainable workforce planning moving forward.
Licensed Practical Nurse Results
- The median age of LPN/VNs was 50 in 2024, an increase from the median age of 47 in 2022
- The percentage of males in the LPN/VN workforce decreased from 10% in 2022 to 9% in 2024
- LPN/VNs were more racially and ethnically diverse than their RN counterparts. Approximately 35% of LPN/VNs were from diverse backgrounds, while 12% were ethnically Hispanic/Latino
- 82% of LPN/VNs held a vocational/practical certificate when first licensed in the United States
- 32% LPN/VNs indicated that their primary nursing practice position was in a nursing home/extended care setting in 2024, increasing slightly from 31% in 2022
- The median pre-tax annual earnings for LPN/VNs increased from $50,000 in 2022 to $58,000 in 2024
- Close to 41% of LPN/VNs reported an increase in their workload within the past two years, a significant decrease from 63% reported in 2022