Nurse's Aide: how many are there, and how many are in private practice?

National totals

What this specialty covers

(1) An unlicensed individual who is trained to function in an assistive role to the licensed nurse in the provision of patient/client activities as delegated by the nurse; (2) An individual trained (either on-the-job or through a formal course generally of less than one year) and experienced in performing patient or client-care nursing tasks that do not require the skills of a specialist, technician, or professional. Examples of tasks performed by nurses aides include changing clothes, diapers, and beds; assisting patients to perform exercises or personal hygiene tasks, and supporting communication or social interaction. Specific education and credentials are not required for this work.

Reading the sole-proprietor share

For Nurse's Aide records, the sole-proprietor share shows how many NPPES records carry that flag, not how many aides operate a private practice. The field is self-reported and is an imperfect proxy because an aide may work through an organization, and the NPI's administrative arrangement may not describe the person's day-to-day work setting. Read the 43.5% figure as an administrative classification signal, not a measure of independent practice, employment status, or service volume.

By state

New NPI registrations by year

Counts reflect the year each NPI was first issued, among records still active today. The final year is partial: this data covers through 2026-01-11.

Data notes

• The sole-proprietor field is self-reported by the provider in NPPES and is an imperfect proxy for private practice.
• A sole-proprietor count shown as <11 is suppressed: the true value is below 11, which could include zero.
• NPI records and taxonomy classifications do not necessarily represent unique currently practicing individuals, employer relationships, or service volume.
• A primary taxonomy may not capture every Nurse's Aide who has an NPI or who is classified under another taxonomy.
• NPI enumeration year reflects when the NPI was first issued, not necessarily when the person entered the workforce or began practicing in this role.
• Providers are counted once, by their primary taxonomy code only.

Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Data Dissemination file, FOIA-disclosable public data under CMS-6060-N. Aggregated by Hero EMR on 2026-08-03; deactivated NPIs excluded; specialty assigned from the primary taxonomy code (NUCC 25.1). Counts below 11 are suppressed. Individual providers are never published. All provider data pages.

Common questions