What is this dashboard?
This dashboard is part of the DPH Health Care Workforce Center Health Professions Data Series. It includes data on LPNs and can be explored through the menu at the top of this page via 5 categories: Employment, Demographics, Community Representation, Trends, and Map.
What is the Health Professions Data Series?
This dashboard is part of the Health Professions Data Series (HPDS) which provides data on workforce characteristics of various health professionals licensed to practice in Massachusetts. Learn more about the HPDS.
Where does this data come from?
The data presented in this dashboard comes from licensure renewal surveys completed online by LPNs. LPN licenses are renewed every 2 years on odd-numbered years. This dashboard presents data for the licensure renewal years of 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023. The survey consists of questions related to demographics, education, employment characteristics, and future plans.
Data on population used to calculate Rates on the “Map” tab and the Race/Ethnicity on the “Community Representation” tab come from a variety of sources. See the Excel data tables “Data Dictionary” tab for more information on sources.
Review the survey questionnaire here: Licensed Practical Nurse Survey (PDF) | (DOCX)
Who is included in the data?
This data includes LPNs who were due to renew their license during the renewal cycle and completed their license renewal application online through the DPH Online Licensing System. This includes all licensed LPNs, not only those providing direct patient care.
Who is not included in the data?
- LPNs who submitted a paper license renewal application either in person or through the mail.
- LPNs who received their first Massachusetts LPN license during the registration cycle and have a birthday within three months of the license issue date.
You may access this dashboard in full screen. For keyboard and assistive technology users, visit Tableau accessibility information for helpful tricks and keyboard commands.
Note: The data used in this dashboard is available for download (Excel). The data is updated every other year in even years after analysis is complete.
Helpful Definitions
- Practice location: Practice location in MA includes data for any respondent who provided a valid MA zip code for either their primary OR secondary practice location. Practice location "Outside MA" includes those who had a valid US zip code for both their primary and secondary practice (if applicable) outside of MA. Those practicing outside the US or its territories were not included in the “Outside MA” category.
- Employment Setting: This is an aggregation of responses to the questions regarding primary and secondary employment setting. If the respondent had a primary practice location in Massachusetts, their primary employment setting was used. If they had a primary practice location outside of Massachusetts or the data was missing, but their secondary practice location was within Massachusetts, then the secondary employment setting was used. This was done to get a full picture of all LPNs working in Massachusetts. Setting responses were consolidated into the following categories displayed on the dashboards:
- Ambulatory Care
- Ambulatory Surgical/Emergency Ctr
- Community Health Center
- Hospital Outpatient
- Mental Health/Sub Abuse – Outpatient
- Occupational Health Site
- Other Outpatient Care Center
- Physician Office
- Congregate Settings:
- Correctional Institution
- Mental Health/Sub Abuse – Residential
- Home Health:
- Home Health Care Services
- Hospital Inpatient & Emergency Care:
- Hospital, Inpatient
- Post-acute & Long-term Care:
- Assisted Living Facility
- Skilled Nursing Facility/Hospice
- Other:
- Academic Institution
- Insurance Organization
- Nursing Association
- Public Health Agency
- School Health Services
- Telenursing
- Other
- Not Applicable: Not Applicable
- Ambulatory Care
- For a full list of definitions and technical notes, please download the Excel file by clicking "Download the data file" above the dashboard and review the "Definitions" sheet.
LPN Resources
Health Care Workforce Center Resources
- Health Professions Data Series
- Health Care Workforce Center (HCWC) data and reports
- Apply for the Conrad 30 / J-1 Visa Waiver Program
- Apply for the Massachusetts Loan Repayment Program for Health Professionals
- Request a National Interest Waiver (NIW) Support Letter
- Shortage Designation Management System (SDMS)
- View National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Program Requirements