Die Motivation älterer Pflegefachpersonen, im Pflegeberuf zu verbleiben: eine Querschnittstudie

There is a worldwide shortage of nurses. In Switzerland 50% of registered nurses aged 50 years and over have left the nursing profession. This means that enormous professional and personal resources are lost. Measures to encourage registered nurses to remain in the profession are therefore crucial. Although strategies for retaining older registered nurses have been described and discussed internationally, the topic has so far been insufficiently investigated in German-speaking countries.

The aim was to describe influencing factors that motivate registered nurses aged 50 years and over to work in direct nursing care in acute care hospitals until normal retirement.

A cross-sectional study with a full survey using an anonymous, standardized questionnaire was conducted at a private hospital group in Switzerland.

Just under 60% (n = 115) of the 195 registered nurses aged 50 years and over who were approached took part in the survey. The participants named three key motivators for staying in the profession: the good cooperation within the nursing team (73.7%, n = 73), the varied and interesting work (70.7%, n = 70) and the enjoyment of the nursing profession (68.7%, n = 68). There was a statistically significant monotonic correlation between the overall score of professional identity and the question on remaining in the profession until normal retirement (p < 0.001, r_s = 0.367).

A high level of professional identity is an important basic prerequisite for remaining in the nursing profession in the long term.