Nursing Over 50

[rplnurse]

The most recent national survey( Health Resources and Services Administration, 2006) released in March 2006 indicates the estimated average of the Registered Nurse as 4.8 and the largest group of RNs was aged 45-49.

AS a Registered Nurse over the age of 50 I have found that my 30 years of experience in multiple areas of nursing has enhanced my ability to practice with confidence. I have discovered that every situation is merely a reenactment of a past situation. I have experience that helps my guide the young nurses and teach on my unit. In many ways nursing is more rewarding over 50 that when I was in a constant learning or skill building mode at age 30.

Recently I relocated from Dallas Texas to Northern California. I worked nights in ICU. After many years of night shift I developed SWSD (Shift Work Sleep Disorder). The most common symptoms are insomnia, but there are many other side effects including: difficulty concentrating, headaches, lack of energy, less efficient work, irritability, anxiety and depression, increase in heartburn and indigestion, increase in colds and flu and an increase in heart problems including high blood pressure. Consequences of shift work sleep disorder include: Increased accidents, work related-errors and sick leave. Nearly six million full-time work on the night shift and one quarter are estimated to have SWSD for which the most common symptoms are insomnia and excessive sleepiness.

My Physician recognized my symptoms and advised the hospital that I could not work the night shift and that I should transfer to days immediately.

I did transfer from ICU nights to A medical floor on days with hesitancy from the Director of Nurses.

After a few days I was notified by phone that my position at that facility was terminated. When I asked the Director of nurses what is the contingency plan for retaining the aging nurses her comment was the she is setting a precedence now by terminating my position.

I now work days 12 hour shifts on a rehabilitation unit. It is fast paced and I work at least 24 hours overtime every two weeks. I am very appreciated for my experience and have the opportunity to teach new graduate nurses and continue my career.

What is the plan for an aging nursing workforce? Over 50 nurses are healthier than in the past and retirement is in the near future. What should the medical community do to retain experienced nurses through this critical shortage of nurses?

Please comment on your opinion.

Rob LaMey RN

[FLAlleycat]

This sure sounds like a law suit!!

I'm in my sixties and no where near ready to be put to pasture! I can outwork many nurses 10-20 yrs younger than I, most who complain of back pains, foot aches, and a number of minor illnesses that come along! I don't hear much at all about retention . . . all I hear about is recruitment! I was quite angry and dismayed when our hospital recently gave part-time nurses a $2000 bonus to go full time for one year while the rest of us were ignored! And, you can guess who requests "first call" at least one of the three work days!

Alley

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

I'm over 50 and I think the reality is that we each have to craft our own plan. I've been a nurse for 22 years (career changer) and did hospital floor work for about 12years. I could tell my joints were going badly. I moved to case management and occ health but that still wasn't "me". I stalked a job...literally...in state government whch combine nursing with my prior career in judicial work. I now have that job that I could do in a wheelchair and I can have it until I decide to retire.

My point is that I worked very hard to have an exit strategy from hospital nursing. I rooted out niche jobs, applied for state positions when they came up and studied each governmental vacancy. I work M-R, 10 hour days with every Fri/Sat/Sun off. I'll get a fully funded pension and health benefits into retirement. I love the work and it demands all of my background. Yet, the stress on me and my body is low.

Look out for yourselves. No one else is going to do it. I found hospitals in particular very reluctant to care long term for their employees. Their retirement packages are often a joke.

[jjjoy, LPN]

I I stalked a job...literally...in state government whch combine nursing with my prior career in judicial work. I now have that job that I could do in a wheelchair and I can have it until I decide to retire.

Look out for yourselves. No one else is going to do it. I found hospitals in particular very reluctant to care long term for their employees. Their retirement packages are often a joke.

Good for you! It's inspiring that you were able to find such a job.

I agree with you that we can't just sit back and expect to be taken care of. Nonetheless, not everyone can and will be able to find a job like yours. If everyone did what you did and hunted down those choice positions, it would be that much harder to get such a job and we'd still end up with many people without such security. As individuals, we need to look after ourselves, but as a society, how will we deal with these issues? We can't ALL end up in your position no matter how hard we try.

[dottimur]

I agree with Quickbeam that we each have to craft our own plan. I think that applies to whatever walk of life you are in. I had a 30 year career in software development and my backup plan was to pursue a second career in nursing just in case I lost my job. I did lose my job a year ago. Quickbeam, well put.

[bill4745, RN]

Rob-

If she said or strongly implied that the position was terminated due to your age, you have age discrimination and you have a potential lawsuit. You need to consider contacting your board of labor.

I'm 55, and do what I am told is a pretty good job in a busy ER. The young nurses look to me for education and guidance, and respect my calmness in codes.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

We all have to realize that as we age, our bodies change! For better or worse - lol. Quickbeam has come up with one idea - craft a new job for yourself. Another way is to further education, thus opening doors for management, teaching, advanced nursing opportunities.

And...its not too early to start getting things in order for when we get a little older.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

Great advice, Quickbeam.

I've been doing a similar thing. I'll be 47 when I graduate and I realize I won't be able to do floor nursing for very long. I plan to get whatever experience I need to qualify for other positions. My ultimate goal is research, but I might take side trips into other areas such as QA, utilization, case management - whatever I think I might like to try.

I don't ever want to feel like I'm stuck somewhere I don't want to be. If that happens I only have myself to blame. There are many opportunites to be had. I am doing my homework now to figure out which direction I want to go so that I'll be ready when opportunites arrive.

[ss07]

This is really interesting to me. I'm a new graduate nurse that's 52. I'm not so naive as to think that there's not age discrimination out there. That's why I chose nursing as a second career. Does anybody have any advice for me about what would be a safe course for me? I'm thinking about becoming a prison nurse just because of the benefits. I'm not afraid of hard work, but I'm also trying to be realistic. Suggestions?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I'm not 50 yet, but I'm headed there at the speed of light..........and unfortunately, so are all of my body parts, many of which did not handle the physical stress of hospital work very well. And yes, there IS age discrimination out there---maybe not overtly, but where I worked, many of us older nurses were given the hardest assignments and then continually hounded about being "too slow". Meanwhile, the leadership positions on the floor were going to younger and less experienced nurses.......suffice it to say that morale went in the dumper, and eventually most of the over-40s quit (including myself).

Knowing I was through as an acute-care nurse, I took a couple of months to try to figure out where to go from there. Then I happened upon an administrative position in an assisted living facility, where I've been mostly happy for the past year-and-a-half. I'm neither on my feet all day nor chained to a desk; I can move about as I please and do as much, or as little, direct care as I choose.

I realize I'm losing some of the technical and assessment skills I used to take such pride in, and sometimes I think it'd almost be worth going back to the hospital if I could be called upon to start a difficult IV again, or get a catheter into a patient no one else can even touch. But those moments pass quickly; even though 90% of my job is made up of overseeing care, there's that 10% of the time when I really earn my pay---when a staff member crumples to the floor in anaphylactic shock, when a resident's behavior or physical status changes without warning, when I put on my detective hat and solve a mystery that's baffled a resident AND his doctors for years......well, it doesn't get any better than that.

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

I re-read my post and I think I came off more of a blowhard than I intended. I'm not some career genius....I have JRA and I knew my joints were going, going, gone.

I do think that there isn't enough going on in nursing education to prepare nurses for a Plan B. I think all nurses need to be encouraged to think about what they will do if they can no longer do hospital nursing. Many nurses (especially those who have never done anything else) have never had to face a competitive job market. A lot of the non-clinical RN roles ARE competitively sought out. I lost out on 20 state jobs over ten years before I landed my current job. That the job I got was an amazing fit for me was the luckiest day of my life.

I saw first hand many older nurses working in pain, shift after shift, because they had no idea what else to do or where to turn. Many supporting families and grandkids. It breaks my heart.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Look out for yourselves. No one else is going to do it. I found hospitals in particular very reluctant to care long term for their employees. Their retirement packages are often a joke.

Good advice. "Retirement packages" are a thing of the past. I'm dismayed at the number of people that don't get this and don't participate in any long-term plans for themselves (if they can afford it).

I also agree that if you can't physically do you job, to find a position that you can perform. Don't expect the hospital to take care of you and find a job you can do just because you killed yourself working for them.