Statistics

2010 Health Manpower Survey

Summary of the Characteristics of Registered Nurses Enumerated

I. Registered Nurses Covered

1.1 The registered nurses covered in the 2010 HMS were nursing personnel registered in the register under the Nurses Registration Ordinance (Chapter 164) as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2010 and had to renew their practising certificates in 2010.

1.2 The number of registered nurses covered was 20 193*, which corresponded to around 67% of all registered nurses as at 31.8.2010.

1.3 Of the 20 193 registered nurses covered, 10 928 had responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 54.1%. Among the respondents, 8 568 were economically active ^†‡ (active) in the local nursing / midwifery profession as at 31.8.2010 and 2 360 reported to be economically inactive ^†§ (inactive) in the local nursing / midwifery profession (Chart A) .

1.4 Of the 8 568 active registered nurses enumerated, 75 were seeking jobs in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 48 reported as having temporary sickness and 29 were expecting to return to their original jobs, waiting to take up new jobs, believing no work available or starting business at subsequent date in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey. The survey results presented in paragraph 1.6 below were based on 8 416 responding registered nurses who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession as at 31.8.2010. As certain questionnaires contained missing information, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.

1.5 Of the 2 360 inactive registered nurses, 566 reported practising overseas, 13 reported practising in the Mainland and 1 768 reported not seeking job in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey (Chart A) . Among the 1 768 inactive registered nurses who reported not seeking job, the main reasons reported for not seeking jobs included: 735 (41.6%) were retired, 435 (24.6%) were engaged in household duties, 339 (19.2%) were working in other professions and 205 (11.6%) wanted to take rest / having no motive to work / having no financial need.

* As the 2010 Health Manpower Survey only aimed at covering all registered nurses who had to renew their practising certificates in 2010, registered nurses who did not need to renew practising certificates in 2010 were excluded from the survey.

† In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active / inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong.

‡ “Economically active” registered nurses comprised all “employed” and “unemployed” registered nurses. “Employed” registered nurses referred to those registered nurses practising in the nursing/midwifery profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while “unemployed” registered nurses referred to those registered nurses who (a) were not practising in the local nursing/midwifery profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the nursing/midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey.

§ “Economically inactive” registered nurses comprised the registered nurses who were not practising in the nursing/midwifery profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and who were “economically active” but “unemployed”.

Chart A : Activity Status of Registered Nurses Covered

Text Version

Notes:

Figure refers to the number of responding registered nurses who (a) were not practising in the nursing / midwifery profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey.

†

Figure refers to the number of responding registered nurses who (a) were not practising in the nursing / midwifery profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had not been available for work during the seven days before the survey, and (c) were expecting to return to their original jobs, waiting to take up new jobs, believing no work was available or starting business at subsequent date in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey.

‡

Figure refers to the number of responding registered nurses who (a) were not practising in the nursing / midwifery profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had not been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey.

Figure refers to the number of responding registered nurses who reported emigrated, undertaking study, etc.

Percentage may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

1.6 Among the 8 416 active registered nurses enumerated who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 7 924 (94.2%) were in the general stream and 492 (5.8%) were in the psychiatric stream ^* .

1.7 47 active registered nurses did not indicate their sex. Among the remaining 8 369 active registered nurses enumerated who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 851 (10.2%) were male and 7 518 (89.8%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 11. Apart from 107 registered nurses who did not indicate the age, the median age of the remaining 8 309 active registered nurses enumerated was 46.0 years. The median age of the active female registered nurses enumerated was 45.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 46.0 years.

1.8 The responding active registered nurses were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs ^† . Distribution by sector for the main job showed that more than half (64.6%) of the active registered nurses enumerated were working in the Hospital Authority, followed by those working in the private sector (16.2%), the Government (10.1%) and the academic and subvented sectors (8.8%).

* Figure may include registered nurses (sick children) and registered nurses (mentally subnormal).

† Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the registered nurses had spent most of their working time.

1.9 The median age of the active registered nurses enumerated was 47.0 years for those working in the Government and the academic and subvented sectors, followed by 46.0 years for those working in the private sector and 45.0 years in the Hospital Authority.

1.10 Of the 8 416 active registered nurses enumerated, 17.6% spent most of their working time on medicine, followed by 14.0% on surgery, 9.8% on administration / management, 7.9% on ambulatory / outpatients, 7.0% on public health, 6.0% on obstetrics, 5.9% on geriatrics and 5.5% on paediatrics.

1.11 The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 8 416 active registered nurses enumerated was 44.0 hours. Among them, 7 334 (87.1%) were not required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty) and 1 036 (12.3%) were required to undertake on-call duty, with a median number of 20.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

1.12 Of the 8 416 active registered nurses enumerated, 78.2% held Student / Pupil Nurse Training, 11.2% held Bachelor’s degree and 7.6% held Higher Diploma as their basic qualifications.

1.13 Of the 8 416 active registered nurses enumerated, 7 168 (85.2%) received / were receiving additional training and 1 248 (14.8%) did not receive any additional training. Of the 7 168 active registered nurses with additional training, 81 (1.1%) had not yet completed the additional training, 3 347 (46.7%) held Bachelor’s Degree, 1 968 (27.5%) held Master’s Degree, 828 (11.6%) held Certificate and 365 (5.1%) held Diploma as the highest qualification.

1.14 Of the 7 168 registered nurses who received / were receiving additional training, 3 947 (55.1%) were trained in one field of additional training. Among them, 16.3% were trained in general nursing, 11.5% in midwifery, 6.8% in public health nursing, 5.4% in geriatric nursing, 5.0% in intensive care nursing, 4.6% in nursing administration and 4.6% in emergency / first aid nursing.

1.15 Regarding Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) / Post-registration Education in Midwifery (PEM) activities, 7 513 (89.3%) of the active registered nurses revealed that they had participated in CNE / PEM activities in 2010, 810 (9.6%) did not participate in any CNE / PEM activities in 2010 and 93 (1.1%) did not reveal whether they had participated in CNE / PEM activities or not. Among the 7 513 active registered nurses enumerated who had participated in CNE / PEM activities, the distribution of CNE / PEM points / hours attained in the past 12 months was: 1 to 5 points / hours (7.9%), 6 to 10 points / hours (9.5%), 11 to 15 points / hours (15.4%), 16 to 20 points / hours (15.0%) and more than 20 points / hours (52.1%).

II. Trend Analysis

2.1 Comparison of findings of the 2010 HMS with those surveys before 2004 should be cautious as the survey methodology and reference date had been changed.

2.2 Between 2000 and 2010, the number of registered nurses covered was in the range from 20 193 to 27 330. The proportion of registered nurses in the general stream remained stable from 92.3% to 94.2% between 1987 and 2010 (Chart B & Table A) .

Chart B: Number of Registered Nurses Covered by Year (2000, 2004, 2007 and 2010)

Text Version

Note:

Figure of 2000 refers to the number of registered nurses registered with Nursing Council of Hong Kong and who were holding valid practising certificates issued by the Nursing Council of Hong Kong as at the 1st of July 2000, whereas the figures of 2004 and 2007 refer to the number of registered nurses as at the 31st of August of the respective years and the figure of 2010 refers to that as at 31st of August 2010 and had to renew their practising certificates in 2010.

2.3 The sex ratio (males per 100 females) of active registered nurses enumerated remained stable from 11 to 14 between 1987 and 2010 (Table A) .

2.4 The median age of the active registered nurses enumerated increased from 32.2 years in 1990 to 46.0 years in 2010.

2.5 From 1987 to 1990, the largest proportion of active registered nurses enumerated was working in the Government, which accounted for about 60% and the remaining were working in the private, academic and subvented sectors. The Hospital Authority has been the largest employer since its setup in 1991, employing 64.6% of active registered nurses in 2010, while the proportion of active registered nurses employed in the Government is about 10%. The proportion working in the private, academic and subvented sectors increased from 13.5% in 1996 to 24.9% in 2010 (Table A) .

Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Registered Nurses Enumerated (1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2010 )

Text Version

Characteristics

Year

1987

1990

1992

1996

2000

2004

2007

2010

A. Registered Nurses Covered ^*

21 635

24 965

27 330

20 193 ^†

B. Active Registered Nurses Enumerated

Number Enumerated

10 357

11 014

11 278

12 260

15 249

10 456

13 614

8 416

Stream of Practice

General stream

92.9%

92.3%

92.4%

94.2%

93.8%

93.5%

94.2%

Psychiatric stream ^‡

7.1%

7.7%

7.6%

5.8%

6.2%

6.5%

5.8 %

Sex

Male

1 054

1 287

1 364

1 399

1 676

1 114

1 521

851

Female

9 303

9 727

9 914

10 861

13 573

9 342

12 093

7 518

Sex Ratio (males per 100 females)

Median Age

32.2

30.7

33.0

35.0

37.0

40.0

46.0

Sector for Work ^§

Government

6 608

6 927

847

1 044

1 351

813

1 020

850

(63.8%)

(62.9%)

(7.5%)

(8.5%)

(8.9%)

(7.8%)

(7.5%)

(10.1%)

Hospital Authority

N.A.

9 088

9 560

11 461

7 675

9 772

5 439

(80.6%)

(78.0%)

(75.2%)

(73.4%)

(71.8%)

(64.6%)

Private

800

1 012

1 162

1 223

1 623

1 230

1 838

1 360

(7.7%)

(9.2%)

(10.3%)

(10.0%)

(10.6%)

(11.8%)

(13.5%)

(16.2%)

Others ^║

2 949

3 075

181

433

814

710

893

737

(28.5%)

(27.9%)

(1.6%)

(3.5%)

(5.3%)

(6.8%)

(6.6%)

(8.8%)

Unknown

N.A.

(0.3%)

(0.7%)

(0.4%)

Notes :

* Figure of 2000 refers to the number of registered nurses registered with Nursing Council of Hong Kong and who were holding valid practising certificates issued by the Nursing Council of Hong Kong as at the 1st of July 2000, whereas the figures of 2004 and 2007 refer to the number of registered nurses as at the 31st of August of the respective years and the figure of 2010 refers to that as at 31st of August 2010 and had to renew their practising certificates in 2010.
† As the 2010 Health Manpower Survey only aimed at covering all registered nurses who had to renew their practising certificates in 2010, registered nurses who did not need to renew practising certificates in 2010 were excluded from the survey.
‡ Figure may include registered nurses (sick children) and registered nurses (mentally subnormal).
§ In 2004, 2007 and 2010, the sector refers to the sector for the main job.
║Included academic and subvented sectors. Military was included in the 1987 HMS.
There may be slight discrepancy between the sum of individual items and the total due to rounding.
N.A. Not applicable
‘-’ Not available

Department of Health
The Government of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region
September 2011

11 Jan 2013