Publications

The Diversity of California’s Registered Nursing Workforce

Date: 
May 7, 2012

The ability of California Registered Nurses (RNs) to provide culturally competent care to Californians is associated with the language skills and diversity of the RN workforce. Moreover, diversity in the RN profession reflects progress in providing opportunities for young people to obtain postsecondary education and enter the health professions. This analysis focuses on trends in the diversity of California RNs, statewide and by region, and compares this diversity to that of the population of California as a whole. Data from the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) Surveys of RNs (2008 & 2010), the BRN Annual Schools Report (2001-2010), the California Department of Finance county-level population projections (2008), the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and the 2010 Census were used for this analysis. Methods used for the analysis are provided in the Appendix.