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Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Working Registered Nurses (RNs) in 2008 NSSRNa Data

From: The effect of prior healthcare employment on the wages of registered nurses

Target population

Total Populationb (Initial Bachelor and Associate degree)

Initial Bachelor degree

Initial Associate degree

Un-weighted sample size

Un-weighted N = 24,136

Un-weighted N = 21,225

Un-weighted N = 10,345

Un-weighted N = 8,992

Un-weighted N = 13,791

Un-weighted N = 12,223

Weighted sample size

Weighted N = 2,242,238

Weighted N = 1,949,625

Weighted N = 945,429

Weighted N = 812,458

Weighted N = 1,296,809

Weighted N = 1,137,166

Sample group

All sample (selection equation)

Working sample (wage equation)

All sample (selection equation)

Working sample (wage equation)

All sample (selection equation)

Working sample (wage equation)

I. Continuous variables

Weighted Mean (SD)

 RN hourly wagec [$]

n/a (n/a)

31.14 (12.68)

n/a (n/a)

32.90 (13.65)

n/a (n/a)

29.88 (11.78)

 Log of RN hourly wage (Outcome variable)

n/a (n/a)

3.37 (0.36)

n/a (n/a)

3.43 (0.36)

n/a (n/a)

3.33 (0.35)

 RN Experience (in years)

n/a (n/a)

15.85 (10.68)

n/a (n/a)

16.44 (11.19)

n/a (n/a)

15.43 (10.29)

 Medical, surgical and other specialists per 1,000 population

1.14 (0.87)

1.16 (0.88)

1.28 (0.91)

1.30 (0.92)

1.03 (0.83)

1.05 (0.84)

 Primary care practitioners per 1,000 population

0.32 (0.15)

0.32 (0.15)

0.32 (0.15)

0.32 (0.15)

0.32 (0.15)

0.32 (0.15)

 Log of other income

9.18 (3.56)

n/a (n/a)

9.34 (3.53)

n/a (n/a)

9.06 (3.57)

n/a (n/a)

 Uninsured rate

14.45 (4.44)

n/a (n/a)

14.41 (4.57)

n/a (n/a)

14.49 (4.35)

n/a (n/a)

 Unemployment rate

5.72 (1.53)

n/a (n/a)

5.58 (1.42)

n/a (n/a)

5.83 (1.59)

n/a (n/a)

II. Categorical variables

Weighted Percent (%)

Prior healthcare position

 Manager

(1.8)

(1.7)

(1.3)

(1.1)

(2.2)

(2.2)

 LPN/LVNd

(15.8)

(16.0)

(5.0)

(5.0)

(23.6)

(23.8)

 Allied health

(11.9)

(12.2)

(10.0)

(10.1)

(13.4)

(13.7)

 Nursing aide

(34.8)

(35.0)

(43.0)

(43.3)

(28.9)

(29.1)

 Clerk

(3.2)

(3.3)

(2.7)

(2.8)

(3.6)

(3.6)

 Other

(4.7)

(4.6)

(5.0)

(4.9)

(4.5)

(4.4)

 No prior health care job

(27.8)

(27.2)

(33.2)

(32.9)

(23.8)

(23.2)

Gender

 Male

(7.3)

(7.6)

(6.9)

(7.1)

(7.6)

(8.0)

 Female

(92.7)

(92.4)

(93.1)

(92.9)

(92.4)

(92.0)

Marital Status

 Married

(74.3)

(73.9)

(75.3)

(74.5)

(73.6)

(73.5)

 Single

(25.7)

(26.1)

(24.7)

(25.5)

(26.4)

(26.5)

Race

 White

(82.3)

(81.5)

(78.5)

(77.4)

(85.0)

(84.3)

 Other

(17.8)

(18.6)

(21.5)

(22.6)

(15.0)

(15.7)

Work Status

 Part-time

n/a

(23.4)

n/a

(25.7)

n/a

(21.8)

 Full-time, no overtime

n/a

(41.2)

n/a

(40.3)

n/a

(41.7)

 Full-time, with overtime

n/a

(35.4)

n/a

(34.0)

n/a

(36.4)

Work setting

 Hospital

n/a

(63.7)

n/a

(65.1)

n/a

(62.7)

 Nursing home

n/a

(5.3)

n/a

(3.4)

n/a

(6.6)

 Other setting

n/a

(31.1)

n/a

(31.6)

n/a

(30.7)

Highest nursing education

 Diploma

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

 Associate degree

(45.6)

(46.1)

n/a

n/a

(78.9)

(79.1)

 Bachelor

(41.7)

(41.4)

(79.3)

(79.7)

(14.3)

(14.0)

 Master's

(12.7)

(12.5)

(20.7)

(20.3)

(6.9)

(6.9)

Working or not (Selection variable)

 Working

(87.0)

n/a

(85.9)

n/a

(87.7)

n/a

 Not working

(13.1)

n/a

(14.1)

n/a

(12.3)

n/a

Grouped age

 <30

(11.0)

(12.0)

(15.1)

(16.6)

(7.9)

(8.7)

 30–39

(23.3)

(24.4)

(25.9)

(26.6)

(21.4)

(22.7)

 40–49

(28.5)

(29.4)

(27.1)

(27.7)

(29.4)

(30.5)

 50–59

(27.9)

(27.6)

(24.3)

(23.7)

(30.5)

(30.5)

 > = 60

(9.4)

(6.7)

(7.5)

(5.4)

(10.8)

(7.6)

Student enrollment

 Full-time student

(3.3)

(3.3)

(3.3)

(3.2)

(3.2)

(3.4)

 Part-time student

(5.5)

(5.9)

(4.4)

(4.8)

(6.3)

(6.7)

 Not a student

(91.3)

(90.8)

(92.3)

(92.0)

(90.5)

(90.0)

Children at home

 Children under 6 years

(10.7)

(11.0)

(13.5)

(13.8)

(8.6)

(9.0)

 All children 6–18 years

(28.9)

(29.7)

(28.7)

(29.2)

(29.1)

(30.1)

 Both under and over 6 years

(7.6)

(7.7)

(8.4)

(8.4)

(7.0)

(7.3)

 No children at home

(52.8)

(51.6)

(49.3)

(48.7)

(55.3)

(53.7)

Urban/Rural

 Urban

(81.2)

(80.8)

(87.5)

(87.3)

(76.5)

(76.1)

 Rural

(18.8)

(19.2)

(12.5)

(12.7)

(23.5)

(23.9)

III. Count of Prior Healthcare Positiond

Weighted Count (Unweighted Count)

 Manager

40,583 (461)

33,694 (395)

12,056 (136)

8,809 (105)

28,527 (325)

24,885 (290)

 LPN/LVNe

353,334 (4,033)

311,253 (3,605)

46,782 (564)

40,783 (498)

306,553 (3,469)

270,470 (3,107)

 Allied health

267,431 (2,849)

237,609 (2,548)

94,316 (1,028)

81,849 (906)

173,114 (1,821)

155,760 (1,642)

 Nursing aide

780,764 (8,470)

682,037 (7,506)

406,120 (4,563)

351,355 (4,010)

374,643 (3,907)

330,682 (3496)

 Clerk

72,290 (753)

64,315 (661)

25,453 (277)

22,881 (247)

46,836 (476)

41,434 (414)

 Other

105,368 (1,163)

90,257 (1,004)

46,869 (539)

39,890 (462)

58,499 (624)

50,367 (542)

 No prior health care job

622,469 (6,407)

530,461 (5,506)

313,832 (3,238)

266,892 (2,764)

308,637 (3,169)

263,568 (2,742)

  1. aNSSRN: nationally representative National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses
  2. bAll actively licensed RNs in the NSSRN 2008 public use data file, excluding RNs who resided outside the United States and RNs whose initial nursing education was at the diploma or graduate (Master’s or Doctorate) level
  3. cRN hourly wage was calculated by adding the salaries from all nursing jobs, then dividing by the number of annual hours worked for all nursing jobs. The natural logarithm of the wage was used to make the distribution approximately normal
  4. dCount data for other variables are summarized in Table S4 available in Additional file 4
  5. eLPN/LVN: Licensed Practical Nurses/Licensed Vocational Nurses
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