Since 2010, The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action has tracked progress made as we continue to implement recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine’s 2010 future of nursing report,Leading Change, Advancing Health. New data are in, and the latest update to our dashboard shows a rise in both nursing education and diversity of employed nurses.

The percentage of employed RNs with a baccalaureate or higher degree continues to grow. As we reported in October, the number of new graduates with baccalaureate degrees has gradually increased,  while the number of RN-to-BSN graduates has tripled since the Campaign began.  These two factors account for the latest data from the American Community Survey that show that 57 percent of employed nurses have obtained a baccalaureate or higher degree. Although the IOM recommendation of  80 percent of nurses having a baccalaureate degree or higher by 2020 will not be attained this year,  progress has been made. When the  Campaign for Action began in 2010, only 49 percent of employed nurses had a baccalaureate degree or higher.

As we’ve reported, the Campaign has well exceeded the goal to double the number of nurses with a doctoral degree.  Looking at this another way, when the Campaign began, just 0.03 percent of employed nurses had a doctoral degree.  Only one of 275 nurses had a doctoral degree.  Today almost one of 100 nurses has a doctoral degree –either a DNP or a PhD.

In addition, the Campaign’s work to diversify the nursing workforce is showing results. In 2018, more than 30 percent of the RN workforce in non-white. This is an increase from 2009 when nearly 24 percent of nurses were non-white.

You can view these updates and the full Campaign Dashboard here.