Older women nurses: health, ageing concerns and self‐care strategies

Abstract

Further research is needed to explore the need for protective work practices and promoting healthy lifestyle practices for ageing nurses. Managers need to recognize the changing health needs of older clinical nurses and offer, for example, flexible rostering and tailored exercise programmes to promote their health.

Discovering Ways That Influence the Older Nurse to Continue Bedside Practice

“…Consistent with the research findings in other qualitative studies of older nurses, the most pervasive and difficult experiences in the sample of older nurses involved dealing with stress, frustration, constant change, physical and mental declines, and dealing with intergenerational conflict [7, 17–19]. Respondents vividly described their physical and mental declines that they struggled with daily evidenced by the following statement “Daily, I struggle with both physical and mental limitations due to aging.” Older nurses also detailed how much their lives had changed by choosing nursing as a profession evidenced by the following quote “Nursing has provided me opportunities to learn and grow, provided me a different way of looking at life, and prepared me to deal and survive cancer.” …”

Factors associated with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in women in midlife

“…47 It is not surprising, given these constraints, that women's self-care is likely to be impacted upon. This contention is supported by Gabrielle et al's 49 examination of self-care strategies undertaken by midlife nurses who found that family and work demands had a negative effect on self-care. Further longitudinal research may examine whether midlife roles and responsibilities have consequences for self-care attitudes and practices that contribute to difficulties with body image and eating.…”

“…The challenges posed by this phase of life include increased demands and responsibilities, 32,47 less discretionary time, 33 and internalized societal norms that dictate that women look after the needs of others before attending to their own. 48,49 The combination of these factors can lead to guilt when a woman's resources are spread thinly across various responsibilities. 47 It is not surprising, given these constraints, that women's self-care is likely to be impacted upon.…”

Attributes of clinical leadership in contemporary nursing: An integrative review

“…As Yoder-Wise (2007) describes, perfect storms are the result of the amalgamation of coexisting factors having a much greater impact together than would be the case if the same factors were to occur by chance. From a global perspective, events contributing to a perfect storm in nursing include workforce shortages (Flynn & McKeown, 2009), multi-generational workforce issues (Carver & Candela, 2008;Sherman, 2006;Wilson, Squires, Widger, Cranley, & Tourangeau, 2008), an ageing workforce (Gabrielle, Jackson, & Mannix, 2008), clinical education challenges for nursing student placements (Williams, French, & Brown, 2009), increasing patient acuity levels (Ekwall, Gerdtz, & Manias, 2008), staff skill mix problems (Parker, Giles, & Higgins, 2009), diminishing resources (Johnstone & Kanitsaki, 2009), and evidence of poor quality of work life including escalation of workplace violence (Jackson, Clare, & Mannix, 2002).…”