With more than 90 percent of all RNs women, and the nursing shortage continuing, hospitals and other healthcare settings need to develop innovative strategies to retain the older RN workforce, said Peri Rosenfeld, senior evaluation scientist for the Center for Home Care Policy & Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York.
"We need workforce initiatives to permit them to do this," Rosenfeld said.
Some healthcare officials are hopeful that this will work, as research by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that women are interested in staying in the workforce beyond 55 years of age if the right conditions exist.
Rosenfeld conducted analyses on data from the Dept. of Health and Human Services Bureau of Health Professionals' RN Sample Survey from 1996, 2000 and 2004, selecting out responses from nurses in New York City, to identify factors associated with retention.
She developed recommendations based on those factors, which she presented in a paper in late November at the Gerontological Society of America's 61st Annual Scientific Meeting.
In 2004 the median age of RNs was 46.8 years. With approximately two-thirds of all RNs in the United States employed by hospitals, it makes sense for hospitals to develop innovative retention policies for older female nurses, Rosenfeld said.
Her research indicates that aging women have different concerns than aging men. In crafting retention strategies, hospitals need to understand the phenomenon that older women are more likely to be family caregivers than men, Rosenfeld pointed out.
First and foremost, hospital administrators should offer services to their RNs that their facilities already provide to their patients, such as referral services for physicians, social workers, lawyers and other professionals. If hospitals have aging centers within their facilities, they should provide their RNs with access to those geriatric programs.
Many people, including employees and employers, are not fully versed on the Family and Medical Leave Act, Rosenfeld said. Those who take advantage of the Act are usually young families, but elder caregivers can benefit from FMLA, as well. Employers should increase their knowledge of, and familiarity with, the Act and encourage their older workforce to take a leave of absence to care for elderly parents, she said.
While hospitals are not known for providing flexible schedules, they should be prepared to offer flexibility to retain nurses.
Finally, current research reveals that younger managers lack sympathy and understanding of the needs of their older workers. "There needs to be more awareness on the part of these managers about the special needs of nurse as family caregivers," Rosenfeld said.
With retention being more cost-effective than recruitment, "we need a lot of creative energy and innovation to keep older nurses in the workplace," Rosenfeld said.