Health Workforce

Minnesota Registered Nurses Facts and Data 2004

The Office of Rural Health & Primary Care asks nurses to answer questions about their employment status and the nature of their practices each year when they renew their licenses. Response to the survey is voluntary and does not affect license renewal.

NOTE: In the tables below, “urban” is defined to include seven Twin City metropolitan counties (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington) and the cities of Duluth, Rochester and St. Cloud.

• Number of Registered Nurses

In May 2005, there were 68,738 registered nurses licensed to practice in Minnesota. Of these, 59,437 had Minnesota addresses. Some of these were retired or not working as nurses, and some may practice in other states. These were partially offset by nurses living in neighboring states, but working in Minnesota.

Overall, the Board of Nursing received 61,111 license renewals during the two-year period ending June 30, 2004. During the same period, the Board issued 8,630 new licenses.

To learn more about where nurses actually work and what kind of work they do, the Office of Rural Health & Primary Care asks nurses to complete a survey when they renew their licenses. In the two-year period ending June 30, 2004, the survey generated 46,898 responses, representing about 77 percent of RNs renewing licenses. Newly licensed nurses are not surveyed until their first license renewal.

The exact number of RNs actually practicing in Minnesota is not known. At license renewal, 38,261 survey respondents, or about 82 percent, said they worked at least part time at a primary practice site in Minnesota. Applied to the total number of licensees, this percentage produces an estimate of approximately 56,100 registered nurses working at Minnesota practice sites in May 2005. Using the July 1, 2004 population estimate for Minnesota, this is 1,099 active RNs per 100,000 people.

This estimate cannot be compared to other states because Minnesota’s data sources are unique. The most recent national data permitting comparisons with other states is from the Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2004-05, which reported that Minnesota had 943 RNs per 100,000 people in 2000, nearly 19 percent above the national ratio of 793. These ratios are based on unpublished data from the Bureau of Health Professions in the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

All data reported below is from the survey conducted by Office of Rural Health & Primary Care, and includes only RNs who work at least part time at a primary practice site in Minnesota.

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• Gender by age and location of Registered Nurses active in Minnesota

Age/location	Respondents	Male	Female
All RNs	38,261	6.2%	93.8%
Under 35	6,887	7.0%	93.0%
35-44	9,361	7.0%	93.0%
45-54	14,113	6.5%	93.5%
55-64	6,669	4.4%	95.6%
65 and older	1,201	1.4%	98.6%
Urban locations	28,395	6.7%	93.3%
Rural locations	9,886	4.7%	95.3%

• Age by location of Registered Nurses active in Minnesota

Age	Statewide n=38,261	Urban n=28.395	Rural n=9,866
Less than 35	18.0%	19.5%	13.7%
35-44	24.5%	25.2%	22.3%
45-54	36.9%	35.9%	39.7%
55-64	17.5%	16.6%	20.2%
65 and older	3.1%	2.8%	4.0%
Total	100%	100%	100%

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Primary practice settings: type of facility/employer

• Registered nurses active in Minnesota

Type of Site	Statewide n=38,261	Urban n=28.395	Rural n=9,866
Hospital-inpatient	53.4%	56 .7%	43.6%
Hospital-outpatient	5.4%	5.8%	4.3%
Clinic/Provider office	9.6%	10.3%	7.5%
Nursing home	8.6%	5.5%	17.4%
Home health agency	4.8%	4.0%	7.0%
Public health agency	3.1%	1.9%	6.4%
School/college/university	3.9%	3.5%	5.2%
All other	11.2%	12.3%	8.6%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

• Primary professional activity of Registered Nurses

Activity	All RNs	Urban	Rural
Patient care	64.6%	68.0%	54.7%
Administration	6.1%	5.1%	8.9%
Supervision of patient care	10.4%	7.8%	17.8%
Insurance/utilization	1.2%	1.5%	.4%
Case Management	5.8%	5.3%	7.4%
Teaching	4.6%	4.0%	6.2%
Telephone triage	2.5%	3.0%	.9%
Other	4.8%	5.2%	3.8%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

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Advance Practice Nurses

• Practice Areas of Certified Nurse Practitioners

Certification Areas	N = 1,066
Acute care	9.4%
Adult	26.7%
Family	28.4%
Gerontology	17.5%
Neonatal	5.4%
Pediatric	17.6%
Psychiatric mental health	3.3%
School	1.5%
Women’s Health (OB/GYN)	18.6%
Other	9.9%
Total	*

Total exceeds 100 percent because many respondents practice in more than one certification area.

• Practice Areas of Certified Nurse Specialists

Certification areas	N = 302
Adult critical care	7.9%
Adult psychiatric and mental health	36.8%
Child/adolescent psychiatric and mental health	8.6%
Community health	2.3%
Diabetes management	3.3%
Gerontological	11.6%
Home health	1.3%
Medical-surgical	23.2%
Neonatal critical care	1.3%
Pediatric	3.3%
Pediatric critical care	1.0%
Other	17.9%
Total	*