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Profiling the Hospital-Based Psychiatric Registered Nurse Workforce

The Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA, nancyp{at}nursing.upenn.edu

Angela M. Gerolamo

The Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA

BACKGROUND: Registered nursing is a core profession staffing psychiatric hospitals. However, strategic planning to address a critical national workforce shortage of registered nurses has not included psychiatric registered nurses. The lack of information thwarts policy decisions to adequately staff registered nurses for safe and effective psychiatric inpatient environments. OBJECTIVE: This study describes and compares demographic, educational, and employment characteristics of hospital-based psychiatric nurses with nonpsychiatric nurses at the national level. It is hypothesized that significant differences between psychiatric and nonpsychiatric nurses exist, requiring special planning for recruitment and retention of psychiatric registered nurses. DESIGN: A weighted sample of 1,113,277 hospital-based registered nurses was identified from the 2000 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Of these, 33,891 hospital-based psychiatric nurses were identified. RESULTS: Hospital-based psychiatric nurses are older, with a significantly lower proportion of younger entrants into the field. They are more diverse in race, education, gender, and marital status than nonpsychiatric nurses. Psychiatric nurses are also more likely than nonpsychiatric nurses to have an associate degree in nursing with a previous bachelor’s degree in another field. They have a higher rate of job turnover than nonpsychiatric nurses and have a slightly lower gross annual salary. CONCLUSION: Evidence suggests that psychiatric nurses will age out of the workforce faster than nonpsychiatric nurses. It is imperative that resources for the recruitment and retention of registered nurses be directed toward the psychiatric nurse workforce.

Key Words: psychiatric nurses • workforce

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