Nursing Section

Recruitment & Retention

Turnover and Vacancy Rates:
Total Nursing (LPNs, RNs, Nurse Practitioners) Turnover
The overall turnover rate for nurses increased from 17.7% in FY 2004 to 19.4% in FY 2005. Ten districts reported an increase in turnover during FY 2005, while seven districts reported a decrease in nurse turnover. One district reported no change from the previous year.

Total Nursing (LPNs, RNs, Nurse Practitioners) Vacancy
The overall vacancy rate for nurses increased from 16.2% in FY 2004 to 18.0% in FY 2005. There were eleven districts reporting a vacancy rate increase and seven districts that reported a decrease in nurse vacancy rate.

Nurse Practitioner Turnover
The turnover rate for Nurse Practitioners increased from 13.7% in FY 2004 to 18.3% in FY 2005. There were ten districts reporting turnover rate increase, six districts reporting a decrease in Nurse Practitioner turnover rate and two districts with no change in turnover rate.

Nurse Practitioner Vacancy
The vacancy rate for Nurse Practitioners decreased from 14.1% in FY 2004 to 13.4% in FY 2005. The vacancy rate for Nurse Practitioners increased in eight districts, decreased in six districts and remained the same in four districts.

State Office Nurse Turnover and Vacancy
The turnover rate for State Office Nurses increased from 16.7% in FY 2004 to 25% in FY 2005. The vacancy rate for State Office Nurses was 54.0% in FY 2005 (FY 2004 data were not available).

Nursing Classification:
The total number of Public Health Nurses in Georgia dropped from 1669 in FY 2004 to 1578.5 in FY 2005. This represents a 5.4% reduction in the nursing workforce. The total number of LPNs decreased from 291 in FY 2004 to 274 in FY 2005. The total number of RNs decreased from 1186 in FY 2004 to 1120.5 in FY 2005. The number of Nurse Practitioners decreased from 192 in FY 2004 to 184 in FY 2005.

Nursing Education:
The percent of RNs and Nurse Practitioners with a BSN or higher degree increased from 48.3% in FY 2004 to 51.2% in FY 2005.