The report, released in September 2021, estimates a current shortage of 40,567 full-time registered nurses that is projected to persist until 2026.
“The pandemic is accelerating a broad trend that has been building for some time,” said Joanne Spetz, PhD, co-author of the report and director of the UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. “To address this, employers need to retain older RNs, while developing career paths for new graduates. They also need to rapidly develop and implement strategies to mitigate the potential harm of nurse shortages over the next five years.”
California currently has more than 350,000 employed registered nurses, with nurses over the age of 55 accounting for an estimated 30 percent of that total.
There are many strategies hospitals can employ to retain older nurses, according to Dr. Spetz, such as offering them alternative roles as mentors.
