LICENSED NURSE ASSITANTS IN VERMONT

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BACKGROUND

The Office of Nursing Workforce Research, Planning and Development has prepared this report to provide Vermonters with useful information on the status of Vermont's nurse workforce. The licensed nurse assistant (LNA) is a valued team member in many settings that provide health care to Vermonters. A survey of 3,552 licensed nurse assistants with a 72% response rate, was conducted. This survey was inserted into the LNA license renewal package, and was not mandatory.

KEY FINDINGS

The final sample consisted of 2,591 responses. The sample was drawn from an original list of 3,503, plus 49 not on the original list. 2,366 responded after the first mailing and 262 more responses were received after a second mailing. The total included 13 anonymous surveys. 150 comments on reason for leaving were recorded.

Basic demographics:

• 94.5% of LNAs are female
• Age range: 16-82 years     Median age: 40 years.

Education:

• 79.2% have HS/GED or some college education

Employment (setting of primary position):

• Years worked in Vermont ranged from 0 to 49 with a median of 6
• Long term care facilities employ 56.1%
• Home health agencies employ 15.3%
• Hospital and in-patient care employ 10.9%
• 16.4% work in Chittenden County
• 49% of LNAs have work experience of 5 or fewer years in Vermont; 71.9% have 10 or fewer years of work experience in Vermont.
• Majority of LNAs work approximately 40 hours per week. (61% work 36+ hours)
• 39% of the respondents were part-time (<36 hours)

Intention to Leave:

• 79.4% of respondents indicated likely to stay at their jobs
• 25.1% indicated they were likely to leave their job within 12 months
• Of those indicating they were likely to leave, most cited dissatisfaction with salary
• 60% of those planning to leave have worked in Vermont for five years or less

REASONS FOR INTENDING TO LEAVE:

The "Reasons for Leaving" question was answered not only by 630 LNAs who indicated leaving but by 612 others. Of those answering the question, the response of those indicating staying was very similar to the responses of those indicating leaving. Dissatisfaction with salary is more than twice the next leading reason. This held true for every subgroup of respondents.

BY GENDER:

The differences regarding reason to leave were not statistically significant by gender. However, among the 583 female and 46 male LNAs indicating and intention to leave their jobs, females are more likely to leave due to dissatisfaction with salary (38.1%) compared to males (32.6%). Males are more likely to return to school (23.9%) than females (19.6%). And, females are more likely to leave for family/personal reasons.