Nurses in Connecticut

Overview

There are 89,322 registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in Connecticut; 86,483 (97%) of whom have a license to practice in Connecticut and the remainder in a different state based on data collected through the Connecticut Department of Public Health online Nurse Licensure System in 2020.

Of the 86,483 nurses that have a current license in Connecticut, 44,086 are actively practicing in Connecticut.

• 36,953 are registered nurses (RN)

• 7,130 are licensed practical nurses (LPN)

While 86,483 RNs and LPNs have a current license in Connecticut, 42,397 are NOT actively practicing in Connecticut. Approximately 20% of these nurses indicated that they practice in another state, with the highest number working in New York (1,297), Massachusetts (918), and Florida (591).

About the Data

The data used in this Nursing Workforce Supply Report was extracted from the 2020 Connecticut Nurse Licensure System Dataset collected by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) via the online NurSys Annual Licensing System using the Minimum Data Set for Nursing SUPPLY created by the National FORUM. The CT DPH, CCNW and the CT Data Collaborative (CDC) aggregated and analyzed these data for reporting purposes.

Not all data are required to be entered in the survey, so each data point could have a different sample size. This data story focuses on nurses who are licensed in Connecticut and who are actively working in or around Connecticut.

This is the most recent RN and LPN survey data captured in the 2020 statistics (January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020), collected in the spring of 2021, and analyzed and published in August 2021. You can also access previous (2017) Connecticut education data.

Notes About This Report

There are 44,086 RNs and LPNs actively practicing in Connecticut, but NOT all are working in nursing positions.

• 39,135 are actively working in nursing (full-time, part-time, per diem)

• 4,951 may be employed in a field other than nursing, volunteering, unemployed, or retired

Sex of Nurses

Similar to national statistics, over 9 in 10 nurses in Connecticut identify as female and this is consistent for both RNs and LPNs.

Race and Ethnicity

The nursing survey allowed RNs and LPNs to select multiple races and ethnicities. For example, an individual who identified as Black, Hispanic, and Other had the option to select all three categories.

Overall, there were 40,401 responses (33,920 RNs and 6,481 LPNs) to the race and ethnicity question. The majority of nurses identified as white (75%), followed by Black (12%) and Hispanic or Latino (6%). Data for all race and ethnicity groups can be seen below.

When comparing the race/ethnicity of RNs and LPNs, we see that RNs are twice as likely to be Asian and 1.5x as likely to be white, while LPNs are 3.5 times as likely to be Black and twice as likely to be Hispanic or Latino.

NOTE: The remainder of this report will focus on the 39,135 RNs and LPNs in Connecticut who are actively employed in nursing. Not all questions in the Connecticut Department of Public Health online Nurse Licensure System were required to be completed for annual licensure.

Education

Overall, 35,766 nurses reported their highest earned degree.

• 48% of nurses earned a baccalaureate

• 22% earned an associate’s degree

• 18% earned a master’s degree

• 2% earned a doctoral degree

LPNs are not required to obtain an associate’s or baccalaureate degree—rather, they are required to graduate from a state-approved certificate program and pass a national licensing exam to receive their LPN license. About 1 in 4 LPNs have pursued higher education after receiving their license.

What Positions and Settings Do Nurses Work In?

Overall, 36,518 RNs and LPNs reported their position. The majority of nurses work as staff nurses (64%), followed by nurse managers (11%), and other health-related positions (10%).

When comparing the positions of RNs and LPNs, RNs are three times as likely to be nurse managers and 15 times as likely to be advanced practice nurses, while LPNs are 32% more likely to be staff nurses.

Overall, 37,033 RNs and LPNs reported their work setting. The most common work setting is in a hospital, where half of nurses are employed.

Work settings differ greatly between RNs and LPNs:

• RNs are most likely to work in a hospital (57%) or ambulatory care (13%)

• Most LPNs work in long term care (63%) and home health (17%)

• LPNs are also more likely to work in community health, correctional facilities, and public health settings

Where Do Nurses Work?

Overall, 30,032 nurses reported the location of their employment. New Haven County, Hartford County, and Fairfield County combined employ over 80% of all nurses in Connecticut.

• New Haven County (31%)

• Hartford County (28%)

• Fairfield County (22%)

The distribution of nurses by county is similar for RNs and LPNs.

On the town level, towns with the highest number of nurses are New Haven (15%), Hartford (11%), and Bridgeport (6%). These three towns are also the only towns where the proportion of RNs and LPNs differs by more than 2%.

• 15% of Connecticut’s RNs work in New Haven, compared to only 5% of LPNs

• 11% of Connecticut’s RNs work in Hartford, compared to only 3% of LPNs

• 6% of Connecticut’s RNs work in Bridgeport, compared to only 3% of LPNs

All other towns have a similar distribution of RNs and LPNs.

Note that the data set analyzed provided zip code of employment, which we mapped to towns and counties using our crosswalks. Union and Lisbon are not included in the crosswalk (hence their values on the town map below are set to 0). Our explanation of the methodology is explained here.

Where Nurses Are Needed

Use the map below to explore towns by number of nurses and percentage of residents over 65. The background color of each town represents the number of nurses who work in that town (darker shades of blue represent more nurses), while the circles represent the percentage of residents over 65 (larger circles represent a higher percentage).