| Data
Sets and Compilations
A number of data
sets were analyzed over the course of
this study. The most important of these
are described briefly below.
Two datasets, one from the North Carolina
Center for Nursing and the other from
the University of North Dakota School
of Medicine & Health Sciences Center
for Rural Health were used extensively
in this study. These were the best sources
of data for facility-level analyses in
hospitals, long-term care facilities,
home health agencies, and public health
agencies. Both datasets included data
on RN staffing, turnover, vacancies, and
recruiting difficulty. Because the surveys
were very similar, they allowed many of
the same analyses and some direct cross-state
comparisons. These data were used for
descriptive analyses, ordinary least squares
regression, and ordered probit models.
The ARF, which is maintained by HRSA,
contains county-level data from various
sources on health care utilization, health
care infrastructure, the health workforce,
health care spending, and population demographics
and economics.
The U.S. Census data includes population
counts by sex and age, and also occupational
data at the county level. Data on sex
and age are taken from the entire population.
The occupational data is taken from a
1-in-6 sample of the population, and may
not be completely accurate for small counties,
but it is probably the best national source
for the number of RNs at the county level.
The Census also includes data on nursing
home residents by county, which is also
taken from the entire population.
The NSSRN is the most detailed source
of data on RNs in the U.S. Unfortunately,
the sampling design makes it unsuitable
for sub-state analysis, but it is a comprehensive
source of the number of RNs working in
various types of settings nationwide.
Most of the NSSRN data used in this study
were from the 2004 survey, but data were
used from the 2000 and 1996 surveys as
well.
Health, United States is an annual
compilation of national health statistics.
It is a good source of national utilization
data for various types of health care,
which can be combined with nurse staffing
data from the NSSRN to produce national
benchmarks for RN staffing (RNs per inpatient
day, for example).
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