On average, registered nurses' workweeks were 84 minutes longer in 2022 than in 2018, federal data shows.
The data comes from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, an annual poll conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration and U.S. Census Bureau. The latest version of the survey, released in March, includes responses from 49,234 registered nurses polled in 2022 and early 2023. HRSA also operates an interactive data dashboard that compares 2018 and 2022 survey responses in key areas, such as nursing demographics, employment and work hours.
Five notes:
1. In 2022, nurses worked an average of 38.9 hours weekly, up from 37.5 hours in 2018.
2. The median weekly hours reported by nurses also increased from 39.1 to 39.3 over the same time period.
3. Nurses ages 45 to 54 had the longest average workweek in 2022 at 40.2 hours, up from 39.4 in 2018.
4. Nurses ages 35 to 44 reported the largest increase in average workweek hours. Between 2018 and 2022, this age group saw a two-hour jump in average weekly hours, bringing the total to 39.2.
5. Black nurses reported the longest average workweeks in 2022 at 40.9 hours, followed by Hispanic nurses (39.8 hours) and nurses identifying as Pacific Islander or of multiple races (39.2 hours). The average workweek for white nurses was 38.4 hours long.