National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN)

New: Nursing Workforce Survey Dashboard

Explore the new Nursing Workforce Dashboard, featuring the most comprehensive data on the nursing workforce available.

From its inaugural assessment in 1977, the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) represents the longest running survey of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States.
For the first time since its inception, this cornerstone of nursing workforce data is now available in a powerful and easy-to use dashboard format.
The dashboard enables you to access the 100,000 unique data points from the survey and visualize this data on the nursing workforce landscape, including demographics, employment, education, earnings, and hours for various categories of nurses (RNs, NPs, and APRNs).
The new dashboard serves as a benchmark for providing educators, health workforce leaders, and policymakers with key details and developments of the nursing workforce supply.

In 2018,the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, surveyed registered nurses in the United States. Over 50,000 registered nurses provided data. We compiled the results and developed an easy-to-use dashboard to display the information.

How Can I Review Findings on the Nursing Workforce?

We provide a dashboard as well as reports and briefs to present our findings on the nursing workforce.

Nursing Workforce Dashboard

The Nursing Workforce Dashboard provides insights on the nursing profession by showing their work environment, education, demographics, hours, earnings, and more. It also helps us predict what nurses will need in the future. These data were published in 2018 and do not reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Training Videos on the Nursing Dashboard

We developed these videos in Zoom to demonstrate how to use the features of the dashboard.

Part 1: Introduction, the Demographics Tab, the Education/Licenses Tab (21:34 min)
Part 2: The Employment and Work Environment Tabs (8:32 min)
Part 3: The Earnings and Hours Tabs (8:16 min)

Nursing Reports and Briefs

Brief Summary of Results: 2018 NSSRN (PDF - 848 KB): Provides a summary of key findings on the U.S. nursing workforce, including information on demographics, diversity, education and training, employment, salary and earnings, and use of telehealth.
Technical Documentation for the 2018 NSSRN (PDF - 7 MB)*: Details the objectives, methodologies, and results of the 2018 NSSRN.
Nursing Education and Training in the United States (PDF - 524 KB): Uses the 2018 NSSRN data to highlight information on the education and training characteristics of actively licensed nurses.
Brief: Job Satisfaction Among Registered Nurses – Pre-COVID: Provides information from the 2018 survey results on job satisfaction, stress, and burnout among registered U.S. nurses.

Can I Review the Survey?

Yes. Check it out: 2018 National Survey of Registered Nurses (PDF - 906 KB)*.

Where Can I Find More Nursing Data?

Visit the Data Warehouse for Nursing Workforce Survey Data. Find data on registered nurses from 1977-2018 and nurse practitioners from our 2012 survey.

Who Do I Contact with Questions?

Email us at NCHWAinquiries@hrsa.gov.

*If you use assistive technology, you may not be able to access information in this file. For help, call 1-800-221-9393 (TTY: 877-897-9910), 8 a.m.-8 p.m. ET weekdays (except federal holidays).

Date Last Reviewed:

November 2022