Nursing Management's Aging Workforce Survey Finds Lack Of Retention Strategies May Escalate Nursing Shortage

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 31 Aug 2006 - 0:00 PDT


The July issue of Nursing Management features an exclusive Aging Workforce Survey of nearly 1,000 nurses that demonstrates the lack of comprehensive strategies designed to retain aging nurses. Nursing Management, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, and the nation's largest professional nursing management journal conducted the survey in partnership with Bernard Hodes Group.

More than 55% of the respondents to the survey, predominantly managers, will retire between 2011 and 2020, combined with a rising exodus of nurse employees during the same time. The number of retirees is understandable given the age of today's nurses. The average age of a nurse has ranged from 42.1 to 46.8 in recent years.1,2 According to the survey, the operating room (OR) and postoperative anesthesia care unit (PACU) have the oldest employees and are therefore at the highest risk for a staffing crisis.

Aside from a few bright spots, particularly related to magnet hospitals, retention efforts in the areas of technology, flexibility and benefits, preventive care, and education have not grown with the retention need. "It's crucial that nurse leaders act now to design innovative solutions to retain aging nurses while they maintain their recruitment efforts. Only by paying attention to both sides of the equation can you keep your workforce in balance," says Richard Hader, RN, CNA, CHE, CPHQ, PhD, FAAN, editor-in-chief of Nursing Management.

The complete Aging Workforce Survey along with Nursing Management's retention recommendations can be found online at http://www.nursingmanagement.com. (Article titled, "No Time to Lose")

About Nursing Management

Nursing Management, The Journal of Excellence in Nursing Leadership, provides strategic professional information and services that nurses need to excel as health care managers and leaders. Nursing Management is the leading source of practical and cutting-edge information for the management of health care delivery across the continuum of care. Each issue offers convenient continuing-education opportunities including special staff development offerings.

About Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (http://www.LWW.com) is a leading international publisher for physicians, nurses, specialized clinicians, and students. Nearly 275 periodicals and 1,500 books in more than 100 disciplines are published under the LWW brand, as well as content-based sites and online corporate and customer services. LWW is part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information for professionals and students in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry. Wolters Kluwer Health is division of Wolters Kluwer, a leading multinational publisher and information services company with annual sales of €3.4 billion (2005) and approximately 18,400 employees worldwide.

http://www.lww.com

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