Abstract
▶ Of the additional 185,000 nurses that joined the workforce in 2002 and 2003, 70% were age 50 and over. ▶ Part five of this series focuses on older RNs and characteristics of this growing cohort that impact the current and future nursing workforce such as employment patterns, attitudes, health, and perceptions of the nursing shortage relative to their younger counterparts. ▶ While 46% of older nurses surveyed provide direct patient care, only 38% of older nurses work in acute care settings. ▶ Older nurses are more satisfied with their current jobs and with nursing as a career than younger nurses; still, a third intend to leave their current position within 3 years with the likely intention to retire or change professions. ▶ Given that older nurses are the fastest growing cohort of the workforce, the findings of this research deserve careful consideration by policymakers, health care leaders, and managers. ▶ Efforts to retain older nurses with, for example, incentives to delay retirement may mitigate the shortages that are now likely to surface in non-acute care settings given the concentration of older nurses in these areas.