Thirty-five percent of baby-boomer nurses say they plan to retire, change profession, work part-time, switch to a less demanding role, or work as travel nurses, according to a survey by AMN Healthcare, a health care staffing firm. Most plan to make their career change in the next 1 to 3 years.
A total of 1,831 nurses ages 45 to 60 completed the survey. Results indicate that many respondents feel burned out. Among the findings:
* 46% of respondents said that working as a nurse has become less satisfying in the last 5 years
* less than half (44%) said they'd again choose nursing as a career if they were just starting out
* only 48% said they'd recommend nursing as a career to their children or other young people
* over 80% listed staffing shortages as their primary job frustration.
Nurses between the ages of 45 and 60 years account for 1.25 million nurses in the United States, says Marcia Faller, RN, executive vice president of AMN Healthcare. If even 10% of this group (more than 120,000 nurses) leave the profession, Faller says, "we will be hard-pressed to meet the needs of baby-boomer patients." To see full survey results, visit AMN Healthcare's Web site at http://www.amnhealthcare.com.