The Importance of the Older and Experienced Nurse in the Workplace

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

robert wood johnson foundation report june 2006

white paper: wisdom at work: the importance of the older and experienced nurse in the workplace

executive summary:

with projections of a severe and looming nursing shortage, the robert wood johnson

foundation® (rwjf) commissioned the development of this wisdom works white

paper to identify promising strategies and opportunities for retaining experienced

nurses. one projection from a 2003 online survey conducted by the american nurses

association revealed that, in the age cohort of 40 or older, more than 82 percent of

nurses planned to retire in the next 20 years.1

this paper is a response to the current and increasingly daunting crisis resulting from

the shortage of nurses. generally, workforce experts agree on three major approaches

to augment the nursing workforce:

1. increase the number of enrolled nursing students and retain them through

graduation.

2. retain new graduates and nurses at all stages of their professional careers, including

older nurses.

3. attract nurses back to the bedside who have left the national nursing workforce, such

as nurses otherwise employed or those who have retired, or attract nurses from other

countries (even though this latter strategy has some politically charged ramifications).

we focus on one approach—the retention of the older nurse to the usual retirement age

and even beyond. while we acknowledge that all three approaches must converge to

substantially reverse the consequences of the nursing shortage, the importance of retaining

older nurses—and the knowledge and wisdom they contribute—has only recently

begun to receive attention. among the baby boomers aged 55 and over are healthy

and vibrant retirees or soon-to-be retirees, with a robust 10 to 30 years of additional life

expectancy. these individuals are fast becoming the largest untapped source of potential labor in the u.s. economy.2

throughout this paper, facts and myths about aging and the older nurse, information

on how workplaces support or detract from the quality of older nurses’ work lives,

best strategies for recruitment and retention to take full advantage of this pool of valuable human resources, and work role adaptations that are realistic and attainable will be presented. the underlying question “is there value in retaining the older nurse in an increasingly chaotic health care system?” leads to a resounding yes!

this paper is organized to:

1. present an introduction and a current review of the literature regarding what has

been researched and written about the older nurse. areas reviewed include data

trends, anecdotal references, ergonomic and work design, and work environment,

including the physical plant and operational culture considerations.

2. present a business case for the immediate implementation of strategies to increase

the retention and/or recruitment of the older nurse.

3. share the results from interviews with sages—experts who possess targeted expertise as well as a broad view of the role and functions of the older nurse.

4. document the results from a pilot survey of nurses addressing heretofore-unasked

questions, such as the psychological impact of role changes, and peer support or

toleration of workload sharing with younger nurses.

5. reveal a set of best practices, in both health care and non–health care settings,

where older employees are respected, honored, and valued for their active contributions, and explore how these might be relevant for replication in a variety of

health settings.

6. synthesize common themes from each of the above data sources, highlighting key

findings and critically examining whether areas of overlap represent consensus or

merely a lack of creativity and a signal that more creative work needs to be done

this, then, leads to a set of recommendations and concluding remarks.

[oramar]

What an excellent paper. Where do you find them? Love it, keep it coming.:clphnds:The only thing I can say in response to all the findings is "Yes, that is the way it is."

[elkpark]

I have not read the entire article yet, only skimmed the exec summary up front, but I'm so glad someone (someone "official," that is) is talking about this issue.

[Fonenurse]

This is a huge issue in the UK where it is predicted that a very high proportion of our nurses (180,000 nurses) will retire in the next few years.

Without older nurses how will younger less experienced nurses learn and gain the mentorship they deserve and require?

It's a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off! In the UK we have the situation where new grads can't get jobs, a reduction in the numbers of nurse training places and many of us due to retire imminently. The joining of the words 'workforce' and 'planning' in the same sentence seems a joke and yet health is set to be one of the growing industries in the next few years..

Sheer madness. Thanks for the report!