Nursing Shortage Looming As NJ Struggles To Fill Positions: Report

NEW JERSEY — High turnover, an aging workforce and lingering pandemic impacts could leave New Jersey with a nursing shortage that worsens over the coming years, according to a new report.

Over the next few years, New Jersey won't have enough graduates to replace retiring nurses. As a result, the state's workforce of registered nurses could decrease by 5 percent within two years, according to data the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing (NJCCN) released Wednesday.

In terms of the active workforce, New Jersey has about 141,000 registered nurses (RNs), 13,500 advanced practice nurses (APNs) and 23,500 licensed practical nurses (LPNs). Demand has outpaced supply, which stresses the labor market and impacts workplace stability, according to the report.

In 2021, the latest year of available data, New Jersey had the nation's highest demand for nurse practitioners (NPs). The state has among the highest demands for RNs and LPNs, according to the data.

"The data in this 2023 report brings into even clearer focus what we’ve already known," said Dr. Edna Cadmus, the NJCCN's executive director, "that we in New Jersey must address current supply and demand for nurses. Investing in the future of nursing is essential, because the ultimate result will be better health care for everyone."

New Jersey's issues with building a nursing workforce preceded the pandemic. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services predicted that New Jersey would have one of the nation's worst nursing shortages in 2030. The agency projected a workforce of 90,800 registered nurses in New Jersey, when the state will need 102,200 at that time.

• Related article: NJ Health Care Could Collapse If Nurses Stay Left Behind: Advocates

The profession's mass exodus, centered around pandemic working conditions, has left much of the country in a weaker position to fill nursing shortages that may develop. And with plenty more poised to quit in the coming years, some states may need to act fast.

New Jersey had a higher demand for registered nurses than the nation as a whole in 2021 — 1.63 times higher, according to job-posting data the NJCCN pulled. Meanwhile, New York's demand stood three times lower than the nation's, while Connecticut's was four times smaller.

Only one New Jersey county had lower demand to fill RN positions than the rest of the country in 2021 — Bergen County, with a concentration of job postings 5 percent lower than the national average. But several New Jersey counties far outpaced the nation in terms of the number of job postings, adjusted for population, including Ocean County (5.41 times higher than the national average), Sussex County (3.09) and Warren County (2.78).

That year, New Jersey's demand for NPs was 3.31 times higher than the nation's — the highest rate in the U.S. Demand concentration was highest in Monmouth (7.75), Ocean (5.78) and Cumberland (4.84) Counties. Only Salem County (0.79) fared better than the U.S.

The aging workforce also leaves New Jersey in a difficult spot. Fifty-five percent of the state's hospital RNs are age 56 or older, while 33 percent are at least 66. Dialysis centers show similar trends, with 49 percent of RNs older than 55 and 18 percent ages 66 and older.

Nursing professions showed high turnover rates in 2021 — 24 percent for RNs, 50 percent for LPNs and 29 percent for 29 percent for NPs. But to meet projected demand in 2031, New Jersey must add about 25,000 jobs, according to the report.

To reduce the risk of future shortages, New Jersey needs greater investment in nursing, according to the NJCCN. The organization pointed to several bills within the State Legislature:

• establishes nursing initiatives that emphasize education, faculty recruitment and retention of nurses. The bill would appropriate $26.7 million, including $25 million for academic-program grants.
• eliminating certain practice restrictions for APNs.
• increasing eligibility for the Nursing Faculty Loan Redemption Program, which offers student-loan redemption.

View the NJCCN's full report here.