The median age of registered nurses in the United States is 52 years
Written by | Yan Xiaoliu
Source | "Medical Community" public account
Throughout April, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has been busy preparing for the upcoming International Nurses Day. This year's theme is "Nurses Make A Difference."
The official website of Carson Newman University in the United States said that this theme is "appropriate". "The Gallup poll in the United States shows that nurses as a profession have been named 'the most honest and ethical professionals' for 20 consecutive years. Nursing-related industries have a good outlook, and demand has surged year after year. ”
The level of compensation is also rising. According to U.S. News & World Report, in 2020, 4 of the top 50 of the "Top 100 Jobs" in the United States are related to nursing. Among them, registered nurses ranked 12th, with a median annual salary of US$75,330 (about 480,000 yuan).
But the reality of the blossoming flowers is that the proportion of the total labor force of young nurses in the United States is shrinking, and the aging of the industry is becoming more and more serious.
"The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has hit the U.S. nursing industry hard." From February 2020 to June 2021, the research team from Montana State University in the United States compiled data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau to write "The Current Status of Nurse Employment in the 15 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic."
The article has been published in the American journal Health Affairs. It is one of the most authoritative international academic journals for health policy research.
The study had a series of "extreme" findings:
First, there is a positive signal: the pandemic has had a "positive impact" on nurses' earnings.
Under the premise that wage growth has not kept pace with inflation for more than 10 years, nurses' salaries have increased the most from April 2020 to June 2021. Nurse practitioners, nurse assistants and registered nurses saw revenue growth of 9.5%, 5.7% and 2% respectively.
"In 2020, the weekly salary of nurse practitioners will increase to $1,500 to $5,000 (about 9,500 yuan to 32,000 yuan)." April Hansen, executive vice president of Aya Healthcare, a U.S.-based health facility, said.
In a bid for resources, Wisconsin-based healthcare provider Aspire Health Care also offers "signing bonuses." Those with more than 1 year of work experience can receive a reward of US$15,000 (about RMB 95,000) on entry.
Second, it is a shocking status quo: "Under the heavy reward, there is no brave man."
The study said that in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an unprecedented wave of departures in the U.S. healthcare industry in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic (October 2018 to December 2019). Among them, the total labor force of nurses shrank by 1.8%.
In particular, in the first to third quarters of 2020, when the attrition rate was highest, the labor gap for registered nurses, nurse practitioners and assistant nurses was 100,000, 25,000 and 90,000 respectively.
Third, the research team noticed an "ominous sign." By age, the labour gap is concentrated among young people.
Studies have shown that in the case of registered nurses, the attrition rate of those under 35 years of age is 4.0%. The attrition rates for those aged 35-49 and over 50 years were 0.5% and 1.0%, respectively.
Image courtesy of HEALTH AFFAIRS
A 2021 U.S. survey found that 63 percent of healthcare provider chief care officers observed a very high rate of attrition among young nurses.
"The aging of nurses in the United States has been slowly but steadily increasing." According to an article on the official website of Carson Newman University in the United States, according to the 2020 ANA survey, the median age of registered nurses in the United States is 52 years old, higher than the 51 years old in 2017. People aged 65 or above account for 19% of the total number of nurses.
The article also notes that an aging population has a dual impact on the nursing industry, as nurses and the patients they care for are getting older.
According to the above-mentioned research, about 660,000 baby boomer nurses have been fighting on the front line of the fight against the epidemic during the epidemic. The so-called "baby boomers" refer specifically to those born between the beginning of 1946 and the end of 1964. The vast majority of them are expected to retire around 2030.
"If baby boomers retire earlier, the national nursing labor market will suffer a major crisis." According to the study.
But to reverse the status quo, it is very difficult. The research team at Montana State University said the number of applicants for a four-year nursing bachelor's degree in the United States has been growing, but the increase is getting smaller and smaller, growing by only 1.3% in 2020. As in the past, by 2030, the new nurse gap will not be met.
According to ANA analysis, 4.7 million nurses worldwide are expected to retire by 2030 and 10.6 million new nurses will be needed.
The "shortage of nurses" has become a medical problem that needs to be solved urgently around the world. According to a 2019 survey, more than 70% of people in the UK believe that hospital nurses are insufficient. The lack of medical personnel in Japan has plagued the country for years. An article published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies evaluates trends in the human resources of Chinese mainland nurses from 1998 to 2018 and argues that nurse shortages, outflows of young nurses and uneven distribution of nurses' human resources across the country are new challenges.
"Our discovery may be a wake-up call." The research team at Montana State University in the United States said that young people enter the field of nursing for the first time, most of them start from the bottom. "We need to think about how to better support these newcomers in the workplace. At the same time, we need to adopt more effective strategies to attract back those who have left. ”
Source:
[1] Nurse Employment During The First Fifteen Months Of The COVID-19 Pandemic.HEALTH AFFAIRS VOL.41,NO.1.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01289
[2] A Worrisome Drop In The Number Of Young Nurses.HEALTH AFFAIRS.10.1377/forefront.20220412.311784
[3] Registered Nurse Salary.U.S.News&World Report
[4] Military Brass,Judges Among Professions at New Image Lows.Gallup
Source: Medical community
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