ECONOMIC-DETERMINANTS OF ANNUAL HOURS WORKED BY REGISTERED NURSES

This study was guided by the economic theory of the decision to work, with secondary survey data (N = 16,880) derived from the National Sample Survey of the Population of Registered Nurses, November 1984, used to analyze the effects of economic and sociodemographic variables on the number of hours worked annually by registered nurses (RNs). When separate analyses were performed for the entire sample and for unmarried RNs alone, regression coefficients estimated for the RN's wage indicated that raising wages would result in modest increases in the number of annual hours worked. This effect was not present when either married RNs or those who were widowed, divorced, or separated were used in regression analyses. Male RNs worked 11 weeks more than married, female RNs, and nonwhite RNs worked almost 7 weeks more per year than white, married RNs. RNs with an associate degree in nursing worked more hours than those with a diploma certificate, and the presence of young children at home had a substantial negative effect on the number of hours RNs worked.