Ways to alleviate acute shortage of RNs

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Oct, 2007

The acute shortage of registered nurses in the U.S. could be lessened by adopting tactics used successfully in other segments of the economy, including sweetening incentives for experienced nurses to stay on the job and enticing nurses who have left the profession back into the market, proposes a study by the University at Buffalo (N.Y.).

"Retaining older RNs in the workforce is an important means of addressing the nursing shortage, and employers and policymakers need to focus on this," insists Carol S. Brewer, associate professor in the School of Nursing. "Keeping older nurses in health care workplaces will require multiple strategies that target income opportunities, working conditions, and recruitment strategies. Given the current projections for shortages lasting into 2020, more attention should be focused on this group of nurses."

Registered nurses employed in other fields also offer a potential pool of experienced clinical nurses--7.2% of nurses sampled in 29 states were working in nonclinical settings--as do nurses who have retired, she adds.

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The study compared characteristics and work attitudes of RNs aged 50 and older with those of nurses younger than 50 at baseline and then a year later. It also compared responses of older RNs working in nursing with RNs from the same age group working outside nursing or retired. In general, this comparison showed that older RNs were more satisfied, more committed to their organization, and had less desire to quit than their younger counterparts, making their retention in the nursing workforce a high priority.

The study suggests several ways to increase retention, including: creating pools of older nurses who are willing to fill in for vacations and other short-term needs; expanding or carving out appropriate work for older RNs who generally have substantial clinical experience; making equipment safer and more ergonomically correct; providing more flexible work hours; and increasing wages.

A somewhat different approach would be needed to bring nurses working in other settings, such as insurance companies and schools, back into the clinical arena, according to the authors. These nurses may not have as much experience as their clinical colleagues, Brewer notes, but they have substantial workplace skills that can be transferable to a clinical setting. She suggests that, to make compensation more competitive, these nurses should receive credit for years of work they did outside of nursing, both for salaries and retirement plans.

Brewer acknowledges that these nurses may not be up-to-date on current diagnosis and treatment protocols, but could be valuable in areas that have not changed over the years, such as assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating care.