Nursing Aides - Table 4.1 Comparison of Direct Care Workforce Data Sources

Nursing Aides, Home Health Aides, and Related Health Care Occupations -- National and Local Workforce Shortages and Associated Data Needs

Table 4-1. Comparison of Direct Care Workforce Data Sources

	OES	CPS monthly	CPS March supplement	NCS	Employment Projection	Occupational Injuries & Illnesses	OSCAR	US Decennial Census
Sample size	400,000 establishments per year x 3 years to fully collect 1.2 million	About 50,000 - 60,000 households	about 62,500 households	36,000 establishments		250,000 units	About 17,000 certified nursing facilities	1 in 6 sample of the households in the U.S.
Data collection method	Mail survey	Personal & phone interview	Personal & phone interview	Personal visit	Secondary data analysis (OES, CES, CPS)	Mail survey	Nursing home self-report (resident & facility characteristics, staffing levels), facility visit by state (deficiencies)	Paper survey
Data collection frequency	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Annual	Every 2 years	Annual	Annual (no less often than every 15 months)	Every ten years
Geographic areas	National, state, and metropolitan areas	National, regional, state, metropolitan areas	National, regional	National, regional, & metropolitan areas	National (state data are available based on the national data)	National, state	National, state, county, individual facility	Geographic areas down to census tracts and block groups
Sample include	Wage and salary workers (full-time & part-time) in non-farm establishments, including federal, state, & local governments	Civilian noninstitutional population age 15+, including unemployed	Civilian noninstitutional population age 15+, including unemployed	Civilian workers in private industry establishments & state and local governments	Civilian noninstitutional population age 15+ (workers in private industries, governments, self-employed, household workers)	Employers with 11 employees or more in private industry	All (about 17,000) certified nursing facilities	All people in selected households in the U.S.
Sample exclude	Self-employed persons, owners and partners in unincorporated firms, household workers, and unpaid family workers	Institutionalized (e.g., prisons, LTC hospitals, nursing homes) people, people in the armed forces	Institutionalized (e.g., prisons, LTC hospitals, nursing homes) people	Self-employed persons, owners and partners in unincorporated firms, household workers, and unpaid family workers, federal government		Private household, small businesses
Available data	# of people in each occupation by industry, wage (mean, median, 10th, 25th, 75th, & 90th percentiles)	Employment status, earnings, work hours, demographic characteristics, occupation, industry	Employment status, earnings, work hours, demographic characteristics, occupation, industry, benefits, income	Wage (mean, median, 10th, 25th, 75th, & 90th percentiles) by geographic area & work level	# of occupation employment 10 year projections by industry & state	# of workplace injuries and illnesses by detailed industry, demographic characteristics, employment size, event or exposure, nature of injury, occupation, part of body affected, etc.	Resident characteristics, facility characteristics, staffing levels, deficiencies	Estimates of numbers of people in different occupations and industries
Occupation code	SOC	1990 Census occupation code	1990 Census occupation code	OCSM	SOC	1990 Census occupation code	N/A	New typology based on SOC 2000
Industry code	1987 SIC	1990 Census industry code	1990 Census industry code	N/A	1987 SIC	1987 SIC	N/A	New typology based on 1997 NAICS
Web site	http://www.bls.gov/oeshome.htm	http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm	http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm	http://www.bls.gov/comhome.htm	http://www.bls.gov/emphome.htm	http://www.bls.gov/oshhome.htm	N/A	http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/sumfile3.html
Years of data available on web	1998 - most current	1989 - most current	1992 - most current	2000	2000 - 2010	1992 - most current	http://www.hcfa.gov/medicaid/nursingfac/nursfac99.pdf for 1993-1999 data in each state	1990 and 2000, in SF-3 Files
Contact info	Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, Suite 4840, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC, 20212-0001; Phone: (202)691-6569			Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Compensation Data Analysis and Planning, 2 Massachusetts Avenue., NE, Rm. 4175, Washington, DC, 20212-0001; Phone: (202)691-6199	Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Employment Projections; Fax: (202) 691-5745	Division of Safety and Health Statistics, US Department of Labor, 2 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Washington, DC, 20212; Phone: (202) 691-6179; Fax: (202) 691-6196	Raw data can be purchased from Center for Medicaid and State Operations Data and Systems Group, Health Care Financing Administration, 7500 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD, 21244-1850; Phone: (410) 786-3112; Fax: (410) 786-4005	Data can be downloaded from the web site for geographic areas down to census tracts and block groups.
Strengths	Large sample, occupation & industry categories more in detail, occupation-industry matrix	Some demographic data & work conditions, state-by-state analysis possible, include self-employed and unpaid workers in a family business, only minor definition changes over time	More demographic data & work conditions, include self-employed and unpaid workers in a family business, only minor definition changes over time	Wage data more in detail (e.g., by work level, FT vs. PT, metropolitan vs. non-metropolitan)	Employment projection by industry & state, including self-employed & household workers	Detailed work safety information by industry and occupation	Comprehensive quality data on certified nursing facilities	Large sample which makes possible estimates for small areas. Data may provide useful reference points for some other files.
Limitations	No demographic data & work condition data, exclusion of household workers, definition of industries problematic, industry & occupation codes change overtime that make historical comparison difficult	Limited demographic data & work condition data compared to March supplement, small sample size, occupation/industry definitions problematic	No state data variable, small sample size, occupation/industry definitions problematic	Smaller sample, occupation codes not corresponding to CNA, HHA, & PCA; industry classification not available in detail	Personal care and home health aides not separated, industry definitions problematic	No industry-occupation cross tabulation available, occupation codes problematic	Not too much data on staffing, staffing data validity, quality measurement problematic, old data overwritten by new data	Surveys are infrequent. Occupation categories are not sufficiently detailed. Geographic areas are for place of residence, not place of work.