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A survey of readers of RCN Publishing's specialist journals has found that older people are being cared for by an ageing population of nurses. Christian Duffin reports
Summary
This article examines the findings of a survey of readers of the RCN Publishing Company specialist journals, which cover settings such as gerontology, mental health and emergency care. The survey provides a snapshot of the profession and highlights differences between nurses in each field: their ages, working practices, concerns and aspirations. The survey found that the older people specialty has disproportionately high numbers of older professionals, in the same way that the emergency care and mental health specialties have high numbers of younger nurses.
Keywords
Nursing: careers; nursing: profession, older nurses
IS OLDER people's nursing top heavy with older nurses? If there are any doubts, a major survey of almost 2,000 nurses has found the answer to be yes; the specialty has disproportionately high numbers of older professionals, in the same way that the emergency care and mental health specialties are staffed by younger nurses.
The survey respondents are readers of the RCN Publishing Company specialist journals, which cover settings such as gerontology, mental health and emergency care. The outcomes may not be representative of the general nursing population, but they provide a snapshot of the profession and highlight differences between nurses in each field: their ages, working practices, concerns and aspirations. Three quarters of the 330 Nursing Older People respondents are aged 45 or over. One third is aged 55 or over, eight times higher than for both Emergency Nurse and Mental Health Practice readers.
Bethann Siviter, a nurse consultant for older people from Birmingham, says of the results: 'Having a high number of older nurses in our specialty is both a good thing and a bad thing. It means staff have a lot of experience and knowledge, but there are problems that people will retire en masse. I don't know how we will replace them.'
June Clark, an emeritus professor at Swansea University and an expert in older people's care, says: 'I don't think it's that older nurses are drawn to work with older people, but that younger nurses see it as unattractive and boring.'
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