Search

Aim: To investigate employment policies in England to encourage retention of primary and community nurses over the age of 50 years., Background: Little is known about why older nurses in the primary and community workforce leave or what might encourage them to stay., Methods: Fifteen telephone interviews with staff with responsibility for the nursing workforce in five primary care trusts (PCTs) and associated Workforce Development Confederations and Strategic Health Authorities., Results: When older nurses left, there was concern about the loss of skills, experience and intelligence about local communities. Strategies such as flexible working, support for returners and carers, and career breaks had been introduced. Concern about pensions was a key influence on nurses' decisions to stay or leave nursing., Conclusions: Efforts were being made to introduce employment strategies to improve the working lives and experiences of all nurses. Some policies designed more specifically for younger nurses requiring childcare were also being taken up by older nurses with caring responsibilities. There were numerous strategies in place or being set up to improve recruitment and retention, indicating a desire amongst managers to retain their pool of nurses., Implications for Nursing Management: Managers should continue to develop policies to retain older nurses and learn from others with successful strategies.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study conducted to examine issues associated with the impact of age on the retention of female primary and community care nurses in the National Health Service in England., Background: Little is known about why older nurses in the primary and community care workforce leave and what might encourage them to stay., Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a semi-structured postal questionnaire was carried out during 2005. Responses were received from 485 (61%) district nurses, health visitors, school nurses and practice nurses in five primary care trusts in England. Data were analysed to test for associations., Results: Older nurses were more likely than younger ones to report that their role had lived up to expectations (P = 0.001). Issues important for older nurses were feeling valued and being consulted when change was implemented. Important factors encouraging nurses to stay were pension considerations, reduced working hours near retirement, and reduced workload. For those with degree-level qualifications, enhanced pay was a factor encouraging retention (P = 0.044). Nurses might leave in response to high administrative workloads, problems in combining work and family commitments (P < or = 0.001), and lack of workplace support (P = 0.029). Retirement and pensions advice was not widely available., Conclusion: Since two-thirds of nurses were generally happy in their role, it is important that the conditions necessary to maintain this level of satisfaction are continued throughout a nurse's working life. Nurses may all too easily consider leaving prematurely unless policy makers and managers ensure that their working environment reflects the issues nurses consider to be conducive to retention.

Background: One third of the primary care nursing workforce is aged 50 years and over. Workforce planning is essential if primary care is to ensure that there are appropriate numbers of nurses available to replace the loss of experienced nurses as they approach retirement., Introduction: As part of an ongoing study to explore the factors influencing retention of female nurses over the age of 50 years in the primary care nursing workforce, a questionnaire survey targeting all community nurses employed in five Primary Care Trusts was undertaken. Accurate statistics on the number and type of community nurse employed in the five Primary Care Trusts were sought to: (i) identify a denominator to accurately identify the response rates to questionnaires in the survey of Primary Care Trusts; and (ii) to compare the Primary Care Trust data with Department of Health statistics to investigate the accuracy of workforce data. A number of problems with locating accurate primary care nursing workforce statistics were identified., Aim: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the difficulties inherent in collating workforce data and the implications for future workforce planning, both locally and nationally. The impact on research is also highlighted., Key Issues: An ageing nursing workforce indicates that primary care nursing will experience significant reductions in its workforce. Local and National workforce statistics for primary care are flawed. There are significant gaps in primary care data for school and practice nurses. There needs to be clarification and a consensus for the term 'community nurse'. The expansion of the public health role for school nurses is seriously challenged because of limited availability of appropriately qualified nurses and an urgent need for an investigation into school nursing statistics. Future workforce planning and development needs to be based on accurate and reliable statistics, to plan for an ageing nursing workforce. The quality of research in primary care is compromised because of the lack of availability of accurate nursing workforce data., Conclusions: Effective delivery of the NHS Plan requires a thorough understanding of the composition of the primary care nursing workforce and targets need to be based on accurate and reliable workforce statistics.

AIM: This paper is a report of a study conducted to explore strategies for retaining nurses and their implications for the primary and community care nursing workforce. BACKGROUND: An ageing nursing workforce has forced the need for recruitment and retention of nurses to be an important feature of workforce planning in many countries. However, whilst there is a growing awareness of the factors that influence the retention of nurses within secondary care services, little is known about those that influence retention of nurses in primary and community care. Little is known about the age profile of such nurses or the impact of the ageing nursing workforce on individual nursing specialities in the England. METHODS: Nursing databases were analysed to explore the impact of age on nursing specialities in primary and community care. The nurse retention literature was reviewed from 1995 to 2006. FINDINGS: Workforce statistics reveal that primary and community care nurses have a higher age profile than the National Health Service nursing workforce as a whole. However, there are important gaps in the literature in relation to the factors influencing retention of older primary and community care nurses. Specific factors exist for older nurses within primary care that are unique. Implications for their retention are suggested. CONCLUSION: Particular attention needs to be paid to factors influencing retention of older nurses in primary and community care. These factors need to be incorporated into local and national policy planning and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]