title: The research and policy importance of nursing sample surveys and minimum data sets.
abstract: This article reviews the information gathered by the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) and other sources of data on the registered nurse (RN) workforce. It examines how the data have been used to create knowledge about the RN workforce and highlights the relative strengths and weaknesses of different data sets. Recommendations for future data collection affirm the Institute of Medicine's recommendation that both license-record based minimum data and the NSSRN be collected in order to help the United States and states meet current and future nursing needs.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA. joanne.spetz@ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spetz
mesh_terms: D019992:Databases as Topic; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006291:Health Policy; D006280:Health Workforce; D006801:Humans; D008008:Licensure, Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D016134:Organizational Policy; D014481:United States
keywords: federal legislation; nursing /health care workforce issues; research methodology