The median age of registered nurses in the US is 52
Writing | Yan Xiaoliu
Source | “Medical Community” Public Account
Through 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”.
Carson Newman University’s official website said the theme was “appropriate.” “Nursing as a profession has been named ‘the most honest and ethical professional’ for 20 consecutive years, according to a Gallup poll in the United States. Nursing-related industries are promising and in demand year after year. surge.”
Pay levels are also rising. According to “U.S. News and World Report”, in 2020, 4 of the top 50 “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 is that young nurses in the United States are shrinking as a proportion of the total workforce, and the industry is aging.
“Especially the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to the U.S. nursing industry.” A Montana State University research team from February 2020 to June 2021 summarized U.S. labor Bureau of Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau data, “Nurse Employment Status in the 15 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
A related article has been published in the US journal Health Affairs. This is one of the most authoritative academic journals for health policy research in the world.
The study has a series of “extreme” findings:
First, is a positive sign: The pandemic is having a “positive impact” on nurses’ earnings.
Nurse pay increases the most in the medical industry from April 2020 to June 2021, on the premise of more than 10 years of wage growth not keeping pace with inflation. Earnings for nurse practitioners, assistant nurses and registered nurses increased by 9.5%, 5.7% and 2%, respectively.
“In 2020, the weekly salary of nurse practitioners will increase to $1,500 to $5,000 (approximately RMB 9,500 to 32,000).” Apple, executive vice president of Aya Healthcare, a US medical institution・April Hansen said.
Aspirus Health Care, a Wisconsin-based healthcare provider, also offers a “signing bonus” to compete for resources. Those with more than 1 year of work experience can get a reward of 15,000 US dollars (about 95,000 yuan).
Second, is a sobering reality: “Under the reward, there is no brave man.”
The initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic saw an unprecedented wave of departures in the U.S. healthcare industry compared to pre-pandemic periods (October 2018-December 2019), according to the study. Among them, the size of the nurses’ total labor force has shrunk by 1.8%.
Especially in the first to third quarters of 2020, when attrition rates were at their highest, the workforce gaps for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and assistant nurses were 100,000, 25,000, and 90,000, respectively .
Third, the research team noticed an “ominous sign.” By age, the labor gap is concentrated among young people.
Studies show that in the case of registered nurses, the attrition rate for those under the age of 35 is 4.0%. The attrition rates for those aged 35-49 and those over 50 were 0.5% and 1.0%, respectively.
Photo courtesy of HEALTH AFFAIRS
A 2021 U.S. survey noted that 63% of healthcare facility chief nursing officers observed a very high rate of young nurse attrition.
“The aging of nurses in the United States has been increasing slowly but steadily.” According to an article on the official website of Carson Newman University, according to the 2020 ANA survey, the median age of registered nurses in the United States is 52, up from 51 in 2017. Those aged 65 or older accounted for 19% of the total number of nurses.
The article also notes that an aging population has a dual impact on the nursing profession, as both nurses and the patients they care for are getting older.
And according to the aforementioned research, during the epidemic, about 660,000 baby boomer nurses were fighting on the front line. The so-called “baby boomers” refer 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 US nursing labor market will experience a major crisis,” the study said.
But it is very difficult to reverse the status quo. The number of applicants for a four-year nursing bachelor’s degree in the U.S. has been growing, but the increase has been smaller, rising just 1.3 percent in 2020, according to a Montana State University research team. As usual, the new nurse gap will not be met by 2030.
According to ANA analysis, by 2030, an estimated 4.7 million nurses worldwide will retire and 10.6 million new nurses will be required.
“Nurse shortage” has become a global medical problem that needs to be solved. A 2019 survey showed that more than 70% of the British public believed that there were insufficient nurses in hospitals. The shortage of medical staff in Japan has plagued the country for many years. An article published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies assessed the changing trends of nurse human resources in mainland China from 1998 to 2018, arguing that the shortage of nurses, the outflow of young nurses, and the uneven distribution of nurse human resources across the country were new challenges.
“Our discovery is a wake-up call.” The research team of Montana State University in the United States said that young people entering the nursing field mostly start from the bottom. “We need to think about how to better support these newcomers. At the same time, we also 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: Medicine
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