The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Working Lives and Retirement Timing of Older Nurses in Ireland

Abstract

COVID-19 profoundly affected Irish citizens. The effects have been especially pronounced for nurses in front-line, clinical and management roles. This article discusses the national and employer policy context relevant to nurses in Ireland. There have been staff and bed shortages in public hospitals since austerity policies were introduced following the global financial crisis. Government measures responding to the pandemic include initial ‘cocooning’ of older citizens, travel restrictions, changed working conditions and restricted availability of childcare. This article draws on interviews with 25 older nurses in 2021, sixteen women and nine men, aged 49 or over in Ireland. It explores older nurses’ experiences of COVID-19 and asks what are the implications for their working conditions and retirement timing intentions. A gendered political economy of ageing approach and thematic analysis reveals that while some nurses responded positively to the pandemic, some experienced adverse health impacts, stress and exhaustion; some reported a fear of contracting COVID-19 and of infecting their families; several women nurses decided to retire earlier due to COVID-19. The implications of the findings for employer and government policy and for research are discussed.

Determinants of intention to leave among nurses and physicians in a hospital setting during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…It is hypothetic that ageing healthcare workers feel exhausted after years of working in healthcare, and the pandemic may create extra stress. This circumstance can result in earlier retirement determined by the COVID-19 pandemic, confirmed by earlier research [132]. Furthermore, Nı ´Le ´ime et al (2021) described that older healthcare workers were worried about their health risks due to COVID-19, which made them decide to retire early [132].…”

Rethinking Traditional Emergency Department Care Models in a Post-Coronavirus Disease-2019 World

“…The participants in this survey felt that working in the emergency deparment allowed them to continue to use the skills they learned in the field and that it was beneficial for both their careers and patient care. 26 …”

“… 22 , 23 , 25 Paramedics will also expect to experience some degree of autonomy during prehospital care in order to feel adequately fulfilled in their new role. 24 , 26 These studies indicate that paramedics in a supportive role can reduce the burden on emergency nurses by assuming responsibility for many tasks historically assigned to nurses and freeing nurses to lead other patient care duties.…”

Factors contributing to nurse resignation during COVID‐19: A qualitative descriptive study

“…Maintaining and sustaining a health workforce to meet the increased demand for healthcare is a local and global challenge (Buchan et al, 2022). The impact of COVID‐19 on health workers is being rigorously investigated (Ní Léime & O'Neill, 2021), and these studies have begun to unpack negative aspects such as nurse stress, anxiety, distress and fear (Hu et al, 2020). Australian nurses and midwives have reported higher levels of anxiety, depression and stress during the COVID‐19 pandemic than general Australian adult norms (Holton et al, 2021) and recommendations to support the workforce continue to evolve (Mills et al, 2020).…”