NHS hospitals ‘neglecting opportunities to retain and recruit older nurses’

“It is the younger ones who are obviously important for the future, and that is, therefore, where our attentions are more focused.”
NHS trust manager

The National Health Service is paying too little attention to the needs of nurses in their 50s – including staff contemplating early retirement as well as leavers who could be attracted back into practice. A study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests there is much more that hospital trusts could do to retain and recruit experienced nurses in the drive to overcome staff shortages.

The report concludes that in spite of government efforts to stem the loss of nurses from the NHS, older nurses frequently lack clear advice or guidance about their employment or retirement options. Little attention has been given to the scope for more flexible work and pension arrangements that would encourage nurses over 50 to stay in practice; and few hospitals appear to have adopted measures to combat older nurses’ stress.

Researchers at the University of Hull conducted interviews and focus groups with NHS employers, advisers and staff across the UK, including interviews with 84 nurses aged over 50. They found that:

• Although the NHS employs more than 145,000 nurses aged over 50, almost 10,000 nurses retire each year and the numbers taking early retirement are increasing. Only one nurse in ten is aged under 30, compared to one in four in the early 1990s. One in three nurses will turn 50 during the current decade.
• Positive reasons that older nurses gave for staying in practice included the opportunity to ‘top up’ their pensions, as well as the availability of flexible working arrangements and continuing professional development. Negative reasons for taking early retirement included long-term stress and difficulties keeping up with technological change.
• While employers had been trying to a boost recruitment and retention, they had not focused specifically on the needs of older nurses. Older nurses reported receiving little or no information or advice about the options regarding staying in the NHS, retiring or returning to work.
• Measures to reduce stress among older nurses, although effective when taken, had not been widely adopted. Older nurses had also found that professional development and ‘return to practice’ courses took too little account of the particular issues they faced.
• There was potential to introduce more flexibility into the NHS pension scheme based on final salary, so older nurses could be offered the option of an end-of-career move into a less demanding job without seriously damaging their pension entitlement.
• Some employers admitted they preferred to employ younger nurses and that policies, including return to practice initiatives, were not designed for those in their 50. Others voiced positive views of older nurses, valuing their courtesy, commitment and understanding of patients’ needs.

Prof. Roger Watson, co author of the report, said: “The NHS has not been devoting enough specific attention to nurturing older nurses as a valuable resource. The result is that nurses feel they are not being helped by their employers to address difficulties associated with growing older in a rapidly changing service. This undoubtedly contributes to an earlier exit from nursing than might otherwise be the case. Yet, as our study demonstrates, there is strong potential for reducing these difficulties and making nursing more attractive, by focusing on the particular needs of nurses over 50, including those returning to the profession.”