Retired Nurse Volunteers

The perceptions of older nurses regarding continuing to work in a nursing career after retirement: A qualitative study in two Chinese hospitals of different levels

BACKGROUND

There is a shortage of nurses worldwide, and a large number of older nurses will be entering retirement in the near future. Older nurses have rich nursing experience, and their retirement is a major loss of resources for the nursing profession. Returning to work after retirement is becoming increasingly popular among retirees today, but there is limited knowledge of the perceptions of older nurses regarding continuing to work in a nursing career after retirement.

OBJECTIVES

To explore older nurses' perceptions of continuing to work in a nursing career after retirement.

DESIGN AND SETTINGS

We conducted a descriptive, qualitative study of older nurses from two public hospitals of different levels in China in 2018.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 27 older nurses aged 50-60 years were recruited, 15 from a tertiary hospital and 12 from a secondary hospital.

METHODS

Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with older nurses. An interview guide was developed to explore nurses' perceptions of continuing to work in a nursing career after retirement. Thematic analysis was used for the data analysis. We developed an interview guide and analysed the data based on the three essential conditions of the framework for understanding behaviour.

FINDINGS

Based on the definition of the three essential conditions of the framework for understanding behaviour, 14 subthemes emerged from the data were categorised under this framework. The three main themes were as follows: the nurses' perceptions of their capability, motivation, and opportunity related to engaging in a nursing career after retirement. A number of older nurses with rich clinical experience have the ability and motivation to engage in nursing a career after retirement. However, discrimination against nurses, burnout, and the effects on young people's employment are barriers to older nurses considering working in a nursing career after retirement. Regarding re-employment after retirement, older nurses also expressed concerns about their physical health, family responsibilities, and salary as well as lack of managerial and policy support.

CONCLUSIONS

These themes confirmed previous findings and offered new perspectives on older Chinese nurses' perceptions of working in a nursing career after retirement. These findings will influence future policy development and research directions. Policies for facilitating a prolonged working life should be developed. Future research should focus on how to address the challenges confronted by older nurses.

Retirement planning: the perceptions of pre-retirement nurses within different hospitals in China

AIM

This study explored the perceptions of senior Chinese nurses working in different hospital types, about retirement planning; and compared the results from two hospitals.

BACKGROUND

A recent review indicates that nurses with inadequate retirement planning could be faced with a retirement crisis. In China, hospitals are classified into different levels, and salaries, job satisfaction and the turnover of nurses varies among these levels. These factors may also influence nurses' perceptions of retirement planning.

METHODS

In a descriptive, qualitative design, 27 semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with nurses who were between 50 and 60 years old and recruited from two hospitals in China from April to September 2018. The interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically.

FINDINGS

Four main themes emerged from the interviews, namely, the understanding of pre-retirement nurses of retirement planning, the attitudes of pre-retirement nurses towards retirement planning, factors influencing nurses' retirement planning and the retirement planning activity of nurses. Most nurses participating in this study did not know much about retirement planning, but they all agreed on its importance. We identified the influencing factors of retirement planning and several differences regarding the perceptions of nurses about retirement planning in different hospitals.

CONCLUSION

In this cohort of nurses, planning for a good retirement was thought to be important; however, their readiness for retirement and the influences around planning for retirement were varied in type and scope.

IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY

Governments and employing hospitals should develop reasonable measures and policies to support nurses in their understanding of the benefits of retirement planning and help them to prepare for retirement. Information about retirement planning should be made available and options for planning explained. Any systematic hurdles to retirement planning should be mitigated or eliminated.