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Aged over 50 years and practising: separation and changes in nursing practice among New Zealand's older Registered Nurses
Author(s) -
North Nicola,
Leung William,
Lee Rochelle
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1111/jan.12426
Subject(s) - workforce , cohort , medicine , quarter (canadian coin) , retrospective cohort study , nursing , cohort study , family medicine , workforce planning , demography , gerontology , geography , political science , archaeology , pathology , sociology , law
Aim To describe temporary and permanent separation patterns and changes in nursing practice over 5 years, for the 2006 cohort of nurses aged ≥50 years in New Zealand. Background As ageing populations increase demand on nursing services, workforce projections need better information on work and retirement decision‐making of large ‘baby‐boomer’ cohorts. Design Retrospective cohort analysis using the Nursing Council of New Zealand administrative dataset. Methods A cohort of all nurses aged ≥50 years on the register and practising in 2006 ( n = 12,606) was tracked until 2011. Results After 5 years, a quarter ( n = 3161) of the cohort (equivalent to 8·4% of all 2006 practising nurses) was no longer practising. There were no significant differences in permanent separation rates between the ages of 50–58; between 18–54% of annual separations re‐entered the workforce. On re‐entry, 56% returned to the same clinical area. Annual separations from the workforce declined sharply during the global financial crisis and more of those leaving re‐entered the workforce. In 2006, half the cohort worked in hospitals. After 5 years, the number of cohort nurses working in hospitals fell by 45%, while those in community settings increased by 12%. Over 5 years, weekly nursing practice hours declined significantly for every age‐band. Conclusions To retain the experience of older nurses for longer, workforce strategies need to take account of patterns of leaving and re‐entering the workforce, preferences for work hours and the differences between the sub‐groups across employment settings and practice areas.