Enumeration 2024: What We Know and What We Wish We Knew About the Governmental Public Health Workforce in a COVID-19 Recovery Landscape

Objectives. To expand on previous enumerations by assessing the size and composition of the governmental public health workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying workforce trends, occupational distributions, and potential gaps in staffing. Methods. From 2023 to 2024, using 2022 data...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 115; no. 5; pp. 707 - 715
Main Authors: Leider, Jonathon P., Balio, Casey P., Hogg-Graham, Rachel, Weiss, Nicole M., Vogel, Abby, Onal, Sezen O., Zang, Xiao, Kett, Paula, Edmonds, Joyce, Karnik, Harshada, Dockery, Nathan, Joseph, Bibin, Pak, Morgan, Thomas, Amy Belflower, Bekemeier, Betty
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States American Public Health Association 01.05.2025
Subjects:
Censuses
Community health
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Data
Datasets
Employees
Enumeration
Estimates
Health Administration
Health Professionals
Health Workforce - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Medical personnel
Multiple imputation
Nurses
Nurses, Public Health - statistics & numerical data
Nurses, Public Health - supply & distribution
Nursing
Occupations
Pandemics
Polls & surveys
Population
Profiles
Public health
Public Health - statistics & numerical data
Public health nurses
Public Health Practice
Public Health Workers
Rehabilitation
Research & Analysis
Response rates
SARS-CoV-2
Staffing
Support workers
Taxonomy
Trends
United States - epidemiology
Workers
Workforce
Workforce - statistics & numerical data
Workforce planning
United States
United States > US
ISSN:0090-0036, 1541-0048, 1541-0048
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Objectives. To expand on previous enumerations by assessing the size and composition of the governmental public health workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying workforce trends, occupational distributions, and potential gaps in staffing. Methods. From 2023 to 2024, using 2022 data in the United States, we conducted 3 distinct analyses: (1) estimating the total workforce size, (2) profiling occupation-specific distributions, and (3) evaluating the role and prevalence of public health nurses using novel data sources. For total counts, we used multiple imputation by chained equations to develop robust agency-level estimates and address missingness from multiple data sets. Results. State and local public health agencies grew to approximately 239 000 staff in 2022, up from an estimated 206 500 in 2019. The largest occupation groups included office and administrative support workers (37 576) and public health or community health nurses (29 387). We found that 73 478 (1.8%) of registered nurses nationwide served in governmental public health roles. Conclusions. The size of the workforce during the COVID-19 response has returned to 2008 levels although temporary staff largely constitute the increase. Public Health Implications. An undersized workforce leaves the United States vulnerable to future disasters and current challenges. ( Am J Public Health. 2025;115(5):707–715. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307960 )
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J. P. Leider, C. P. Balio, R. Hogg-Graham, N. M. Weiss, A. Vogel, P. Kett, N. Dockery, and B. Bekemeier analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the article. S. O. Onal, X. Zang, J. Edmonds, H. Karnik, B. Joseph, M. Pak, and A. B. Thomas provided additional analytic support. All authors provided critical review.
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ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2024.307960