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.
Registered Nurse Results
- The median age of RNs was 50 in 2024, increasing from a median age of 46 in 2022
- From 2015 to 2022, the proportion of male nurses grew from 8% to 11%, but in 2024, it decreased to 10%
- From 2022 to 2024, racial diversity among RNs increased. The percentage of respondents who identified as White/Caucasian declined from 80% to 77%, while the percentage of Black/African American RNs rose from 6% to 9%
- From 2015 to 2024, RNs first prepared with a BSN increased from 39% to 46%, while those prepared with an MSN increased from 3% to 6%
- Hospitals were the primary employment setting for 53% of RNs, this represents a decrease of 4.2% from 2022
- The median pretax annual earnings for RNs grew to $88,000 in 2024 from $80,000 in 2022
- More RNs reported changing settings in 2024 (20%), relative to 2022 (16%)