Title
Should I stay or should I go? Career change and labor force separation among registered nurses in the US
Abbreviated Journal Title
Soc. Sci. Med.
Keywords
USA; Registered nurses; Nursing shortage; Retirement; Career change; Survival analysis; Retention; NURSING SHORTAGE; EARLY RETIREMENT; LEAVE; HEALTH; PROFESSION; INTENTIONS; WORK; DETERMINANTS; WORKFORCE; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Social Sciences, Biomedical
Abstract
Efforts to retain nurses within the profession are critical for resolving the global nursing shortage, but very little research explores the phenomenon of nursing workforce attrition in the U.S. This study is the first to simultaneously investigate the timing of attrition through survival analysis, the exit path taken (career change vs. labor force separation), and the major socioeconomic, family structure, and demographic variables predicting attrition in this country. Using nationally representative U.S. data from the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (N=29,472), we find that the rate of labor force separation is highest after the age of 60, a typical pattern for retirement. However, a non-trivial proportion of career change also occurs at older ages (50+ years old), and the rate of labor force separation begins to climb at relatively young ages (30-40 years old). Particularly strong predictors of early labor force separation include being married and providing care to dependents in the home (young children or elderly parents). Career change is predicted strongly by higher levels of education, male gender, and current enrollment in a non-nursing degree program. Having an Advanced Practice credential reduced the hazards of attrition for both exit paths. The results suggest a fruitful path for future research and a number of policy approaches to curbing nurse workforce attrition. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Journal Title
Social Science & Medicine
Volume
70
Issue/Number
12
Publication Date
1-1-2010
Document Type
Article
Language
English
First Page
1874
Last Page
1881
WOS Identifier
ISSN
0277-9536
Recommended Citation
"Should I stay or should I go? Career change and labor force separation among registered nurses in the US" (2010). Faculty Bibliography 2010s. 595.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/facultybib2010/595
Comments
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