We've been nursing for 300 years

Grey power in nursing has come to the fore after Nursing Times put 77-year-old nurse Helen Turner on our March 3 cover, provoking a massive response from readers aged over 65. A week later, we featured energetic Bernie Baker, a 67-year-old district nurse with an enthusiasm for motorbikes. The nurses profiled here all have positive stories, but others tell NT they no longer feel welcome in the NHS. One is being forced to retire after 22 years' service. Her employers refuse "to employ 65-year-olds", she says. But with a national nursing shortage and the prospect of more than 41% of the UK population being over 50 by 2021, the time may well be ripe to knock ageism in nursing on the head.