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Published on: August 29, 2013
Why do older RNs keep working?
Elizabeth Graham1, Judith Donoghue, Christine Duffield
1Author Affiliations: Doctoral Candidate (Ms Graham), Emerita Professor (Dr Donoghue), Faculty of Health, and Director (Dr Duffield), Deputy Director (Dr Bichel-Findlay), and Project Coordinator (Ms Dimitrelis), Centre for Health Services Management, University of Technology, Sydney, New South Wales; and Professor (Dr Duffield), School of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia; Professor (Dr Griffiths), School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, University of Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Objective:
To identify the reasons older RNs (≥45 years) remain in the healthcare workforce.
Background:
Despite predictions of early retirements of older nurses, many continue to work past the age when they can gain access to their retirement funds.
Methods:
The authors surveyed nurses older than 45 years in New South Wales, Australia.
Results:
The need for income was the most common reason for staying in nursing (61.9%; n = 210), with nearly 43% (n = 130) identifying this as the main reason for staying.
Conclusions:
Retaining older nurses in the workforce is an important strategy for managing workforce shortages. Nurse executives will need to consider strategies that will enhance retention of older nurses and focus on the reasons older nurses want to keep working.
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