Department of Health - Health Manpower Survey

1 The enrolled nurses covered in the 2018 Health Manpower Survey on Enrolled Nurses (HMS-EN) were nursing personnel enrolled in any part of the roll under the Nurses Registration Ordinance (Chapter 164) as at the survey reference date of 31 August 2018, with exclusion of those subsequently found to have passed away on or before the survey reference date.

3 Of the 13 799 enrolled nurses covered, 4 353 responded to the HMS-EN, giving an overall response rate of 31.5%. Among the respondents, 3 607 (82.9%) were economically active*† (active) in the local nursing / midwifery profession and 746 (17.1%) were economically inactive^*‡ (inactive) in the local nursing / midwifery profession (See Chart).

4 Of the 3 607 active enrolled nurses enumerated, 3 518 (97.5%) were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 37 (1.0%) were seeking jobs, 34 (0.9%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness, and 18 (0.5%) believed that work was not available, were waiting to take up a new job in the local nursing / midwifery profession, starting business at subsequent date or expecting to return to their original jobs in local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey.

5 The survey results presented below were based on 3 518 responding enrolled nurses who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession as at 31 August 2018. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding.

(i) Five active enrolled nurses did not indicate the gender. Among the remaining 3 513 active enrolled nurses enumerated who were practising in the local nursing / midwifery profession, 394 (11.2%) were male and 3 119 (88.8%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 13. Apart from 59 active enrolled nurses who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 3 459 active enrolled nurses enumerated was 40.0 years.

(ii) Distribution by sector of the main job ^§ of those enumerated showed that 1 357 (38.6%) active enrolled nurses enumerated were working in the Hospital Authority, followed by 1 318 (37.5%) in the private sector, 650 (18.5%) in the subvented sector, 164 (4.7%) in the Government and 22 (0.6%) in the academic sector.

(iii) Of the 3 518 active enrolled nurses enumerated, 726 (20.6%) spent most of their working time on residential care, followed by 499 (14.2%) on geriatrics, 487 (13.8%) on medicine, 386 (11.0%) on surgery, 344 (9.8%) on ambulatory care / outpatients, 285 (8.1%) on mental health / psychiatry / addiction treatment, 153 (4.3%) on rehabilitation, 115 (3.3%) on working as visiting nurse, 94 (2.7%) on paediatrics and 66 (1.9%) on public health.

(iv) The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 3 518 active enrolled nurses enumerated was 44.0 hours. Among them, 315 (9.0%) enrolled nurses were required to undertake on call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 8.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

*	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 nurse 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 local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey.
‡	“Economically inactive” enrolled nurse 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”.
§	Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the enrolled nurses had spent most of their working time.

(i) 699 (93.7%) reported not seeking job in the local nursing / midwifery profession during the 30 days before the survey. Among the 699 inactive enrolled nurses who reported not practising in Hong Kong and not seeking jobs, the main reasons reported for not seeking job included: 362 (51.8%) were retired, 144 (20.6%) were engaged in household duties, 91 (13.0%) were working in other professions, 87 (12.4%) wanted to take a rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need.

(ii) 38 (5.1%) reported practising overseas and nine (1.2%) reported practising in the Mainland.

Statistics