Nurses getting older
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!
I just blogged a day or so ago, about problem absenteeism within my unit. Our staff seems to tilt heavily toward the 40s-50s age range already. Perhaps the two are intertwined. No one has recognised the possibility a significant number of these nurses are headed for burnout or are already there, leaving us with the possibility of a mass exodus in the next several years. You make some very valid points I suspect management hasn’t spent much time considering.
Hi Matt, thanks for visiting.. Checking out your blog now! Maybe there is a link with absenteeism, not sure about that one. Regardless, I’m sure the possibility of a rapid decline in numbers some stage in the near future is a real possibility. Hmmmm, health care universally needs reform!
Hi Ross. Interesting post.
I think the problem is actually multi-faceted. I hear some stories from my friends and everywhere…… I guess what I hear is one of the factors of newer and younger nurses leaving their job.
I think there are some ‘older (aging)’ (hence much more experienced) nurses who lack of tolerance and consideration towards newer nurses….. being very harsh to the newer nurses (not necessarily, but most often, those novice nurses are younger than them) at times. They can be gnarly and complaining yet when it comes to them doing their work, those people allow themselves to be sloppy (e.g. Saying, “Well, they can deal with it”). I understand that it must be really tiring for the older (aging) nurses to cope in the environment that they are working ….. but at the same time, I can’t deny that their attitude like that can disadvantage other workers and jeopardize their team work. The younger (or newer) nurses tend to zip it and not to complain about those things, but it certainly does not help keeping their motivation up to remain in the workforce!
As long as you do not go and prostitute Ross when you decide to leave nursing! LOL, you only started and already feel you don’t want to do this forever. Let me tell you, I think 80% or higher of the nursing profession would leave sooner or later and you know what, overseas nurses do not find Australia nursing attractive at all, resulting in a greater shortage. Cost of living and high child care costs just doesn’t make nursing in Australia attractive at all. For far less stress and much better working conditions overseas nurses can go and work in the Middle East and be paid 3 to 4 times more than in Australia and receive their income tax free. They also receive annual return flights to their home country and can stay in a compound equal to a 3 – 5 star hotel as part of their working terms. Why waist your time as a nurse to even consider nursing in Australia. In one year a nurse can make 4 times her salary in Australia and work under better conditions. The facts are shocking how many nurses leave the profession in Australia annually. I don’t see this changing soon. The worst is the drop out rate of nurses studying is one third. This should be an indication the profession just doesn’t appeal.
@George – Hi, thanks for visiting. “You only started and already feel you don’t want to do this forever”. Actually I’ve been doing this for 10 years – if that’s ‘only starting’ you should look up the figures for length of time spent in jobs, you might be surprised what you pick up in ten years!
I’m not entirely sure that overseas nurses don’t find Australia nursing attractive at all – would be interesting to read up on where you heard about this… Also I’m well aware about nursing in the middle east – the pay rate is not quite 3 – 4 times more however, unless you can find somewhere that will pay me $300k for nursing! It’s true that you can earn one and a half times what you earn here though, and that it’s tax free. But you have to weigh up the lifestyle and customs of UAE etc and decide whether or not you want to live there (especially when you have a family etc in Australia – not so appealing, unless you like those head to toe coverings for women!)
“This should be an indication the profession just doesn’t appeal”. While I certainly agree that there can be many, many changes made to the nursing profession, pay rates, hours and public perception being a few of these, I still maintain that there definitely are some positives such as flexibility & job security. Thanks for commenting though.
Hi Ross,
I am 37 years old and am considering of studying again and going into nursing as a second profession. My timetable is that I need at least 3 years of schooling plus another 3 years to have a good experience. Would you advise me to continue with this plan?
Is nursing really stressful? Have you experienced being shouted by doctors and patients alike?
Hoping for your reply. Thanks
@ronald – Hi there. Look, don’t regret missing out on a career you’re interested in. Just get in and give it a go – you’ll find out soon enough if it’s not for you.
Nursing can be stressful, depending on where you work & what the circumstances are. The hours can be tiring etc also. I am shouted at by drunks/druggies/losers/psych patients etc just about every week in emergency! Don’t think ever by any doctors, most are pretty cool.
I’m in my second year of nursing in WA and things are looking dismal here. The pay is ‘ok’ but the conditions are crap, not to mention the lack of jobs available – thanks Liberals for your continuing budget cuts across the public sector.
I love this job, helping people, but the conditions I work under makes me feel like a slave. Morale is low and I can’t see myself slogging my guts out doing this forever, certainly not into my 60s – it’s just not worth it.
As such I am seriously considering voting with my feet and going overseas where I will be appreciated instead of banging my head against a brick wall trying to get management to speak up for us rather than imposing state government regulations with no consultation. The problem with us nurses is we are too nice. We just keep taking it so they keep dishing more out. We are good at bitching to each other but not to the decision makers. No wonder school leavers study other things. The way we do things needs reform. We study for 3 – 3.5 years and get paid less than cops and graduate teachers. Little consideration is given to work/life balance and we have to work late/earlies without adequate sleep. Nurse managers tell you “it’s not in the award” to expect to start on a late and finish on an early and although we need management, it is too top heavy. A satisfaction survey released from earlier this year unanimously indicated management as the number one gripe among nurses in WA. So although they’ve earned their stripes and moved off the ‘floor’ as such, they need to figure out how to be part of the team as opposed to the us up here vs them down there mentality. Non management nurses would support management I think if they felt they were being listened to.
I agree with the above comment about how narky experienced nurses can be to new comers. It’s not on. I wonder if they have any idea how deeply it hurts new nurses when someone rolls their eyes at having to preceptor them or basically ditches them during the shift so they have to fend for themselves? I had to preceptor in my first year and I can assure you, they feel stupid, worthless, lost and inadequate when it happens. This also comes back to pressures on existing staff to manage tight patient loads with frequent staff shortages coupled (again) with a lack of support.
Also, what ever happened to actually caring for patients? They are the ones who miss out while we run up and down the corridors putting out fires all shift. On the odd occasion that I do have time to sit down and actually listen to them, they are so grateful for some TLC and genuine human contact and it is an unusual experience for them. How sad is that?
Surely we can all put our heads together and come up with a better system of delivering quality nursing care that supports better patient outcomes whilst addressing the issue of attracting and retaining staff. For example, the rostering system here is archaic and should be hauled off the nearest cliff. I am no expert on alternatives, but the more energetic nurses that I’ve spoken to have been highly in favour of a 12 hour shift so they can have more of a life outside of work. This could be offset by nurses who do not wish or are unable to work long shifts. Flexibility is the key and recognising that we are individuals rather than soldier ants. There is more than one way to skin a FTE arrangement, not to mention part time and casual work.
Instead of burning out experienced nurses, give them the proper opportunity to pass on their skills without the pressure of having to manage and coordinate at the same time – this could be allocated time within the working week. The newer nurses are keen to learn but instead they get caught up in the chaos as well and do their best to keep their heads above water.
Something needs to be done because patients are living longer and with more chronic conditions and nurses are about to become fewer and fewer judging by the above comments. We are smart professionals who can figure this out, we just haven’t come together and thought of the answers yet.