Nurse in Australia…great post..makes you think. RNJ
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It’s been well reported particularly in the last few years that we are experiencing a shift to an aging workforce in the nursing profession. Gradually the average age of nurses has crept up, and this trend is not exclusive to Australia or America - many countries around the world are seeing similar patterns.
Laura Stokowski in Old, but Not Out suggests that by 2010, 40% of nurses will be over the age of 50. As these nurses retire in the ten years to follow, it can be expected that we will see a shortfall that is much worse than the current situation. Additionally, she states:
“One third of nurses over the age of 50 years plan to leave their nursing positions in the next 3 years. Given the high cost of replacing a nurse, it seems inconceivable that healthcare organizations aren’t bending over backwards to keep these nurses.”
And so there has been some debate on retaining older staff, making sure there’s not a mass exodus when nurses hit 60 - 65 years of age.
I’ve been thinking about this from an emergency perspective, and the reality is that people often move on from high pace workloads after a given period of time. Granted, you will find the occasional super-nurse who has worked emergency for 25 years and is still going strong, but for the most part from what I’ve seen, nurses tend to move on to quieter areas, management, education roles or change professions completely.
For me personally I’ve decided it’s not going to be something I do until retirement. I expect over the next year or so to wean my hours down (full time in emergency year after year starts to get draining), with a view to doing something completely different on the side. By doing this I hope to avoid becoming stale and narky (as we all know some nurses are!), and also it’s a good chance to try some new things out.
I’ve been in the game long enough to understand why the workforce is aging, why people aren’t flocking in droves to work as new nurses. Poor community awareness of our roles coupled with stupid work hours, massive responsibility, baseline pay and high stress environments does not make an exciting job-sell to prospective school leavers! Throw in a few other truisms, like the very real chance of being sued, hurting or killing someone through medication errors, and you discover why nursing’s not an appealing profession for many people!
As I eluded to in should I be a nurse, it takes a certain personality type and dedication to put up with the things that we do! Don’t get me wrong, nursing’s been a great ride - but I don’t think it’s something I can do forever. And so I’m wondering if more attention should be given to employing new nurses and training them up in specialty areas, rather than retention of the aging workforce. I’m not suggesting that older nurses are not valuable, but that they have a right to leave when they want! If I’m already feeling that I don’t want to do this forever, I’m certain someone has the right to feel that way even more at 50, 60 years of age.
So I’m throwing my hat in the ring (after thinking about this recently), and I’d like to suggest that the profession needs a name change to reflect the massive changes in job role over the last 30 years. I know this debate has come up before, but the role has changed. Maybe it’s time that it’s reflected in the title. Days of “yes doctor… no doctor…” are gone, as have many other old school practices, but the old school mentality of nurses being people’s handmaidens, servants and run-about people still exists. “Can I have some food?” the relative of a patient asked last night, as they were being unloaded off the ambulance trolley. Where do I begin to answer that question?!
Anyway, I’m interested to hear other people’s thoughts. But I don’t think it’s fair to keep people in the profession when they’ve had enough! Maybe we need to make nursing more appealing to school leavers. More money, less stupid hours, better flexibility, maybe working four days a week shift work for five days pay. I don’t know, maybe we need to brainstorm more incentives or rewards - holidays, travel allowances… and maybe even a name change!
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