How are nurses supported to work in public hospitals until retirement age and beyond in New Zealand?
Loading...
Supplementary material
Other Title
Authors
Whitburn, Marie
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Master of Nursing
Grantor
Eastern Institute of Technology
Date
2015
Supervisors
Papps, Elaine
Arcus, Kerry
Arcus, Kerry
Type
Masters Thesis
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
New Zealand
nurses
ageing workforce
public hospitals
support
surveys
nurses
ageing workforce
public hospitals
support
surveys
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Whitburn, M. (2015). How are nurses supported to work in public hospitals until retirement age and beyond in New Zealand? (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Nursing). Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), New Zealand.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
As the population ages, it is imperative that the nursing workforce remain robust and sustainable so the health needs of New Zealanders can be met. Research identifies that 40% of the nursing workforce is over 50 years. In the clinical environment, nurses face challenges with working conditions. The aim of this research was to examine the perceptions of nurses working for District Health Boards (DHBs) to see if they believed they were supported within their workplace to work until retirement age or until they left of their own choice.
METHOD
An initial literature review was undertaken using the electronic data bases CINAHL, Proquest and Pubmed to identify international and national perspectives of how nurses manage as they age in the workforce. A descriptive survey was undertaken to examine the thoughts and perceptions of nurses to see if they felt supported in preparation for retirement. An online survey was sent to nurses aged over 45 years and working in three DHBs in New Zealand. Data were collected from SurveyMonkey™ and analysed using thematic analysis. Themes emerged from which to identify common perspectives.
FINDINGS
Ninety nine responses were retrieved from approximately 3000 potential participants giving a response rate of approximately 3%. The emerging themes from the responses indicated that participants considered attention to support, education and competency expectations, work-life balance, working conditions and retirement intentions to be critical factors in their work environment.
CONCLUSIONS
Over 70% of participants (n=69) have indicated they do not feel supported in their preparation for retirement and it is evident that the workplace culture needs to make change so that all nurses feel supported and able to remain in the workforce as they age. Further research is recommended to identify and implement policies and interventions to address work force sustainability to ensure nurses are supported until retirement.
Publisher
Permanent link
Link to ePress publication
DOI
Copyright holder
Author
Copyright notice
All rights reserved