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Statistics

2009 Health Manpower Survey

Summary of the Characteristics of Enrolled Nurses Enumerated

I.  Enrolled Nurses Covered

1.1   The enrolled nurses covered in the 2009 HMS were nursing personnel enrolled in any part of the roll under the Nurses Registration Ordinance (Chapter 164) as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2009 and had to renew their practising certificates in 2009.

1.2   The number of enrolled nurses covered was 7 086.

1.3   Of the 7 086 enrolled nurses covered, 4 347 had responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 61.3%. Among the respondents, 3 719 were economically active*† (active) in the local nursing / midwifery profession as at 31.8.2009 and 628 reported to be economically inactive*‡ (inactive) in the local nursing / midwifery profession (Chart A) .

* 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” enrolled nurses comprised all “employed” and “unemployed” enrolled nurses. “Employed” enrolled nurses referred to those enrolled nurses practising in the nursing / midwifery profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while “unemployed” enrolled nurses referred to those enrolled 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” enrolled nurses comprised the enrolled 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”.

1.4   Of the 3 719 active enrolled nurses enumerated, 39 were seeking jobs, 34 reported as having temporary sickness and 12 were believing no work available, expecting to return to their original jobs or waiting to take up new jobs 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 3 634 responding enrolled nurses who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession as at 31.8.2009. As certain questionnaires contained missing information, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.

1.5   Of the 628 inactive enrolled nurses, 84 reported practising overseas, two reported practising in the Mainland and 542 reported not seeking job in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey (Chart A) . Among the 542 inactive enrolled nurses who reported not seeking job, the main reasons reported for not seeking jobs included: 219 (40.4%) were retired, 142 (26.2%) were engaged in household duties, 102 (18.8%) were working in other professions, 53 (9.8%) wanted to take rest / having no motive to work / having no financial need.

Chart A : Activity Status of Enrolled Nurses Covered

Text Version

Of the 7 086 enrolled nurses covered, 4 347 (61.3%) had responded to the survey, while the remaining 2 739 (38.7%) had not responded. Among the respondents, 3 719 (85.6%) were active in the local nursing / midwifery profession whereas 628 (14.4%) reported to be inactive in the local nursing / midwifery profession. Among the 3 719 active enrolled nurses, 3 634 (97.7%) were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 39 (1.0%) (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, 34 (0.9%) reported as having temporary sickness and 12 (0.3%) (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 believing no work was available, expecting to return to their original jobs or waiting to take up new jobs in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey. Of the 628 inactive enrolled nurses, 84 (13.4%) reported practising overseas and two (0.3%) reported practising in the Mainland and 542 (86.3%) reported not practising in the nursing / midwifery profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local pharmacy profession during the 30 days before the survey. Of the 542 inactive enrolled nurses, 219 (40.4%) reported retired, 142 (26.2%) were engaged in household duties, 102 (18.8%) were working in other professions, 53 (9.8%) wanted to take rest / having no motive to work / having no financial need and the remaining 26(4.8%)* had other reasons for being inactive. Note: * Figure refers to the number of responding enrolled nurses who reported emigrated, undertaking study, etc.

1.6   Among the 3 634 active enrolled nurses enumerated who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 3 289 (90.5%) were in the general stream and 345 (9.5%) were in psychiatric stream.

1.7   29 active enrolled nurses did not indicate their sex. Among the remaining 3 605 active enrolled nurses enumerated who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 224 (6.2%) were male and 3 381 (93.8%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 7. Apart from 80 enrolled nurses who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 3 554 active enrolled nurses enumerated were 46.0 years. The median age of the active female enrolled nurses enumerated was 46.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 48.0 years.

1.8   The responding enrolled nurses were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs*. Distribution by sector showed that about half (48.2%) of the active enrolled nurses enumerated were working in the Hospital Authority, followed by those working in the private sector (29.0%), the subvented sector (14.5%), the Government (7.4%) and the academic sector (0.4%).

1.9   The median age of enrolled nurses enumerated was 50.0 years for those working in the Government, followed by 47.0 years for those working in the subvented sectors, 46.0 years in the private sector, 44.0 years in the Hospital Authority and 43.0 years in the academic sector.

1.10   Of the 3 634 active enrolled nurses enumerated, 23.2% spent most of their working time on residential care, followed by 16.1% on medicine, 12.0% on ambulatory / outpatients, 10.5% on surgery, 9.1% on mental health / psychiatric / addiction treatment, 6.5% on rehabilitation, 4.0% on public health, 3.7% on working as visiting nurse and 3.1% on paediatrics.


*  Main jobs refer to the jobs in which the enrolled nurses had spent most of their working time.


1.11   The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 3 634 active enrolled nurses enumerated was 44.0 hours. Among them, 3 197 (88.0%) were not required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty) and 392 (10.8%) were required to undertake on-call duty, with median number of 9.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

1.12   Of the 3 634 active enrolled nurses enumerated, most held Student / Pupil Nurse Training (97.9%), 1.1% held Higher Diploma and 0.4% held Bachelor’s Degree as their basic qualifications.

1.13   Of the 3 634 active enrolled nurses enumerated, 2 020 (55.6%) received / were receiving additional training and 1 614 (44.4%) did not receive any additional training. Of the 2 020 active enrolled nurses with additional training, 78 (3.9%) had not yet completed the additional training, 1 138 (56.3%) held Certificate, 303 (15.0%) held Bachelor’s Degree and 238 (11.8%) held Higher Diploma as the highest qualification.

1.14   Of the 2 020 enrolled nurses who had received / were receiving additional training, 1 174 (58.1%) were trained in one field of additional training. Among them, 16.8% were trained in general nursing, 11.5% in geriatric nursing, 11.2% in community health, 7.1% in mental health nursing, 4.6% in nursing education, 4.3% in emergency / first aid nursing and 4.1% in rehabilitation.

1.15   Regarding Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) / Post-registration Education in Midwifery (PEM) activities, 2 926 (80.5%) of the active enrolled nurses revealed that they had participated in CNE / PEM activities in 2009, 587 (16.2%) did not participate in any CNE / PEM activities and 121 (3.3%) did not reveal whether they had participated in any CNE / PEM activities or not. Among the 2 926 active enrolled 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 (14.0%), 6 to 10 points / hours (18.8%), 11 to 15 points / hours (18.8%), 16 to 20 points / hours (11.9%) and more than 20 points / hours (36.4%).

II.  Trend Analysis

2.1 Comparison of findings of the 2009 HMS with those surveys before 2004 should be cautious as the survey methodology and reference date had been changed.

2.2 Between 2000 and 2009, the number of enrolled nurses covered was in the range from 7 086 to 9 496. The proportion of enrolled nurses in the general stream remained stable from 88.9% to 91.8% between 1987 and 2009 (Chart B & Table A) .

Chart B: Number of Enrolled Nurses Covered by Year (2000, 2004, 2006 and 2009)

Text Version

In the 2000 Health Manpower Survey, the number of enrolled nurses covered was 8 077. In the 2004 Health Manpower Survey, the number of enrolled nurses covered was 8 463. In the 2006 Health Manpower Survey, the number of enrolled nurses covered was 9 496. In the 2009 Health Manpower Survey, the number of enrolled nurses covered was 7 086. Note: Figure of 2000 refers to the number of enrolled nurses registered with Nursing Council of Hong Kong and who were holding valid practising certificates as at the 1st of July 2000, whereas the figures of 2004 and 2006 refer to that as at 31st of August of the respective years and the figure of 2009 refers to that as at 31st of August 2009 and had to renew their practising certificates in 2009.

2.3   The sex ratio (males per 100 females) of active enrolled nurses enumerated remained stable from 6 to 9 between 1987 and 2009 (Table A) .

2.4   The median age of the active enrolled nurses enumerated increased from 31.5 years in 1992 to 46.0 years in 2009.

2.5   From 1987 to 1990, the largest proportion of active enrolled nurses enumerated was working in the private, academic and subvented sectors*, which altogether accounted for about 60% and the remaining were working in the Government. The Hospital Authority has been the largest employer since its setup in 1991, while the proportion of active enrolled nurses employed in the Government decreased to less than 10%. The proportion working in the private, academic and subvented sectors decreased from 58.5% in 1987 to 43.9% in 2009 (Table A) .

* Military was included in the 1987 HMS.

Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Enrolled Nurses Enumerated (1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2009)

Text Version

Department of Health
The Government of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region
December 2010

17 Dec 2010