Systems are seeing a few common trends in the aging nurse population.
During the pandemic, many systems saw nurses retiring early due to the strains of work. At Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health, 12% of all RN turnover in 2020 was related to retirement, compared to 2024, when the rate was 5.8%.
Nurses tend to begin to consider retirement in their late 50s and early 60s when the physical demands of a 12-hour shift become too difficult.
“The typical retirement age for nurses is between 58 and 62 years old,” Greg Till, chief people officer at Renton, Wash.-based Providence, told Becker’s. “Before the pandemic, it was on the higher end of that range, but COVID-19 accelerated early retirements, bringing that average down by a couple of years.”
At Bon Secours Mercy Health, the average age of a retiring nurse is 64 and 6 months.
Every leader had one thing to say about experienced nurses: We have to keep them engaged in healthcare in some capacity.
“These nurses bring invaluable intellectual capital and resilience,” Veronica Scott-Fulton, DNP, chief nurse executive at Bon Secours Mercy Health, told Becker’s. “They have been through every major healthcare crisis, from HIV to COVID-19, and their experience is something we don’t see as often in nurses who are new to practice. It’s just a different world today.”
With high turnover among experienced nurses, “losing their expertise and skill has a major impact,” Carolyn Santora, RN, chief nursing officer and chief of regulatory affairs at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Hospital, told Becker’s.
To maintain that intellectual capital and prepare newer nurses for the field, systems are turning to alternative work options to keep experienced nurses at the hospital.
“Right now, the focus has to be on retaining experienced nurses as long as they want to stay,” Syl Trepanier, DNP, RN, chief nursing officer at Providence, told Becker’s. “That means refreshing the work environment, making the work itself more sustainable, and creating new opportunities that keep them engaged and fulfilled.”
Each system Becker’s spoke to offers a variety of alternative roles nurses can step into.
At Bon Secours Mercy Health, 196 nurses aged 50 and up have moved to new roles since 2020. These include clinical education, preceptor roles, bedside care in 4-hour shifts, mentoring nurses in specialties and practice councils, and leadership positions.
“Nearly half of our market presidents are clinicians, including former nurses,” Allan Calonge, chief people officer of core operations at Bon Secours Mercy Health, told Becker’s. “Two of them are registered nurses.”
Some nurses also switch from acute care practice to ambulatory care and to roles in population health, care management and revenue cycle.
“Many former Bon Secours Mercy Health nurses have transitioned into these roles, particularly those looking for more stable schedules, such as an eight-hour day shift or remote work,” Mr. Calonge said.
At Providence, many experienced nurses shift into home health, remote nursing, where they analyze data and support clinical teams without direct patient interaction, or virtual nursing, where they still provide assessments and care guidance to patients.
“Virtual nursing, in particular, was designed with experienced nurses in mind,” Dr. Trepanier said. “It requires a high level of clinical expertise, but allows nurses to continue working from home without the physical strain of 12-hour shifts. For nurses in their mid-60s or late 60s, this is a game changer. Instead of running up and down hospital hallways, they can stay connected to their teams, serve their communities, and continue their careers — just in a different way.”
Stony Brook University Hospital has gone all in on per diem roles for experienced nurses, allowing them to work in clinical documentation improvement, case management, discharge teaching and legal nurse consulting.
Like other systems, nurses also have the option to take on teaching opportunities in nurse residency programs of the school of nursing, or become supervisors, especially in evening, night or weekend shifts.
All three systems added that many of their experienced nurses go on to volunteer in the community.
“I always say, once a nurse, always a nurse,” Ms. Santora said. “Even in retirement, many nurses still identify with the profession and want to contribute in meaningful ways.”
Although systems are making it easy for nurses to stay longer, staff will eventually retire for good. A “silver tsunami” is on the horizon with millions of adults turning 65 each year, and systems are deep in workforce planning to ensure operations will continue smoothly after experienced nurses retire.
“We’re left with a less experienced workforce, which means we have to train differently,” Ms. Santora said. “When I started out as a nurse, you got one week of orientation, and then you were expected to work independently. That is impossible today. The expansion of medical knowledge, technology, and patient complexity has made nursing far more demanding. Patients have shorter hospital stays but are more acutely ill, which means new nurses can’t just hit the ground running.”
To meet the gap in knowledge, leaders are strengthening their nurse residency programs and ensuring experienced nurses have many opportunities to train the upcoming generations.
Bon Secours Mercy Health leaders identify where gaps may arise by tracking who is likely to retire in the next one to three years and who is in school for advanced roles. They ensure that experienced nurses have opportunities to step into leadership and mentoring roles to pass down their expertise.
“This allows us to create smooth transitions — keeping retirees engaged part-time while training the next wave of nurses,” Dr. Scott-Fulton said. “The last thing we want is unexpected gaps that place additional burdens on our staff.”
Providence leaders look even further out — three to five years — to anticipate workforce needs and create a proactive plan for retirement and transitions. But leaders also focus on the needs of new nurses to ensure they stay at the system for longer.
“We believe that flexibility is the new engagement capital,” Mr. Till said. “And flexibility isn’t just for administrators — it should apply to every single position.”