between 2010 and 2020, over 40% of the rn workforce will be over 50 years of age, and many rns are expected to retire and withdraw from the workforce.
studies suggest there may be some important differences between older and younger rns. letvak (2002) reported older nurses are more likely to work in outpatient, community, and other non-acute care settings, and buchan (1999) found the same in countries outside of the united states.
there also is evidence that older nurses favor working 8 instead of 12-hour shifts (hoffman & scott, 2003). however, results are mixed with respect to whether older rns compared to younger rns are more satisfied with both their jobs and nursing as a career (division of nursing, 2000; hoffman & scott, 2003).
selected demographic and work characteristics of working older and younger rns included in the sample are shown in table 1 .
older rns represent approximately 31% of rns surveyed. as a group, they are more likely to have an associate degree as the highest nursing degree and less likely than younger rns to have a baccalaureate degree. as a group, older rns reported less earnings compared to younger rns.
among rns not working, 60% were retired, 13% were not working for health reasons, 7% indicated they were burned out, and 4% cited family care responsibilities. about one-third of older rns plan to leave their current nursing position in the next 3 years; however, older rns are more likely than younger rns to say they will remain in their current position. moreover, of those older rns planning to leave their current nursing position, nearly half (47%) intend to retire, 29% intend to take another position in nursing, 15% to change professions, and 15% to take time out for family or personal reasons.
in a recent survey of student nurses, older students were as interested in acute care nursing positions as their younger counterparts (norman, buerhaus, donelan, mccloskey, & dittus, 2005). thus, it may be that older new nursing graduates may choose to be employed in hospitals whereas older practicing rns choose other care delivery settings where demands are less intense.
