The United States is facing a severe nursing shortage, as a growing amount of older nurses preparing to retire are finding less qualified nurses to replace them. This shortage dangerously intersects with the aging of the baby boomer population, which will put an enormous strain on the country’s health care system.
More than half of the nation’s nurses say they are planning to retire in the next 15 or 20 years, while the number of full-time nurses is expected to decrease to half a million by 2025, studies say.
To help solve this problem, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation teamed up with the Lewin Group to publish a report titled Wisdom at Work: Retaining Experienced Nurses.
The report detailed case studies, research projects and best practices designed to help "keep more veteran nurses at patient bedsides," including compensation packages that reward seniority and longevity, benefits that cater to older employees (such as phased retirement options), flexible work arrangements and opportunities to transfer to less demanding roles, and corporate cultures that value experience.
The seven case studies exemplify how focusing on morale and productivity can decrease the turnover rates among experienced nurses in healthcare organizations across the country.
"We know that there is no quick fix to the crisis in health care," said Susan B. Hassmiller, senior advisor for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "But the approaches explored in our ‘Wisdom at Work’ initiative are pieces of a larger puzzle that will help health care organizations keep experienced nurses from walking out the door – and taking their expertise with them – just when we need them most."
There are currently 2.5 million nurses across the country, making them the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, said the Institute of Medicine.
The problem is some of these older nurses need to retire because they can’t keep up. The ideal age range for a proficient and capable nurse is between 30 and 55 years old. Maybe the economy’s woes will push more into nursing. The key to maintaining nurses is to value them as caregivers not as paper pushers!
The keys to keeping mature nurses in the profession are to focus on the intrinsic needs of the nurses. When we convince organizations and nurses that they must:
1. practice self-care before patient care
2. find techniques to shift from the “nurse” role back into “person” role
3. find work/life balance
4. establish personal boundaries
5. identify and live their passion
6. discover and integrate personal values
we will see the end to the revolving door of the nursing profession.