The NC Health Talent Alliance released new analysis of health workforce supply and demand data for key health care jobs in North Carolina. The findings measure shortages and identify strategies to better meet statewide and regional needs for RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and CMAs.
The analysis, published in a series of regional and state level reports, reflect trends from the NC Health Talent Alliance’s first annual data collection which captured insights from more than 1,000 health care facilities and 80 health education programs across the state. The data, which quantifies the depth and breadth of our talent challenges, is the cornerstone of the NC Health Talent Alliance’s efforts to develop a demand-driven workforce system tailored to North Carolina health care employers’ unique needs.
“By transitioning from a general plea for more talent to a regularly occurring, detailed understanding of specific needs, we can ensure our efforts today shape a stronger health care workforce for tomorrow,” said NC Chamber Foundation Director of Workforce Competitiveness Vincent Ginski.
The NC Health Talent Alliance was launched in 2023 by the NC Center on the Workforce for Health and NC Chamber Foundation to drive a regionally-relevant partnership with NC AHEC regions. The regional data reports are being used by employer-led collaboratives leveraging the Talent Pipeline Management® (TPM) framework championed by the NC Chamber Foundation.
“We are turning data into action,” said Andy MacCracken, director of the NC Center on the Workforce for Health. “This unprecedented data collection effort helps us identify specific interventions needed regionally to measurably strengthen our health workforce.”
Key Statewide Findings:
- Statewide, about 1 in 4 LPN positions, 1 in 6 RN and CNA positions, 1 in 7 MA positions are open.
- In 2023, the turnover rates were approximately 50% for RNs, LPNs, and MAs, and 80% for CNAs. This means half of the RN, LPN, and MA workforce of survey respondents came and went within a given year.
- Educational infrastructure in the state is robust but some institutions are operating well below allowed capacity, indicating that additional resources and support could increase nurse output. Qualitative responses from institutions indicate that increased resources to support teaching staff, classroom space, technology, and clinical training positions would expand capacity.
- Analysis of secondary labor market data finds that at current rates, North Carolina has an annual deficit of 2,850 RNs and 730 LPNs. This means the state needs to either produce more people with necessary credentials and/or reduce demand by those amounts to avoid worsening shortages. These deficits vary among regions.
Groups of employers and educators in five NC AHEC regions are already using the NC Health Talent Alliance data to identify solutions to shared workforce pain points. The program is doubling in size, with ten collaboratives identifying and advancing solutions to meet regional needs across North Carolina. By the end of 2024, North Carolina is expected to have the largest TPM movement in the country.
