Data sources to estimate local area supply and demand for nurses

Area of Science:

• Health workforce research
• Nursing economics
• Healthcare policy analysis

Background:

• Accurate estimation of registered nurse (RN) supply and demand is crucial for healthcare planning and policy development.
• Existing data sources for assessing the nursing workforce have limitations that impact the precision of local estimates.
• Understanding these data limitations is essential for improving workforce projections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine available data sources for estimating local registered nurse (RN) supply and demand.
• To critically analyze the strengths and weaknesses inherent in current nursing workforce data.
• To inform future data collection and analysis strategies for more accurate RN workforce assessments.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of existing literature and databases.
• Qualitative analysis of data source characteristics.
• Comparative assessment of data utility for supply and demand estimation.

Main Results:

• Identified key data sources including licensure data, employer surveys, and educational program outputs.
• Highlighted significant data gaps and inconsistencies in geographic granularity and timeliness.
• Demonstrated variability in the accuracy of supply and demand estimates based on data source quality.

Conclusions:

• No single data source is sufficient for comprehensive local RN supply and demand estimation.
• A multi-source approach, with careful consideration of data limitations, is recommended.
• Improvements in data collection and standardization are needed to enhance the reliability of nursing workforce planning.