Meaning of working for older nurses and nursing assistants in Sweden: A qualitative study.

Meaningful work is related to the motivation to continue to work in older ages and later retirement. This qualitative study addresses calls for further research on the meaning of working for older workers using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach to explore in-depth the dimensions underlying the subjective experience of meaningful work among 27 nurses and nursing assistants aged 55-75 years. The findings show that work was perceived as a primary source of: (1) personal identity (2) purpose and contribution, (3) competence and accomplishment, (4) social contacts and belongingness, (5) activity, routines and purposeful use of time, and (6) economic security and freedom. These qualitative findings may be applied in interventions aiming to encourage extended working lives in key welfare occupations, which are facing significant staff shortages.

Sustainable Working Life in Intensive Care: A Qualitative Study of Older Nurses.

To counteract the shortage of nurses in the workforce, healthcare organizations must encourage experienced nurses to extend their working lives. Intensive care (IC) has higher nurse-to-patient ratios than other settings, which includes a particular susceptibility to staff shortage. This qualitative study investigated how older IC nurses experienced their working life and their reflections on the late-career and retirement. Semi-structured interviews with 12 IC nurses in Sweden (aged 55-65 years) were analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. The results showed that nurses planned to continue working until the age of 65 and beyond. When reflecting on their late-career decisions, nurses considered nine areas covering individual, work, and organizational factors as being central to their ability and willingness to stay. Overall, the nurses had good health and were very satisfied and committed to their job and to the organization. They mentioned having both the job and personal resources required to cope with the physical and mental job demands, which were perceived as motivational challenges, rather than hinders. They also reflected on various human resource management practices that may promote aging-in-workplace. These findings may inform organizations aiming at providing adequate conditions for enabling healthy and sustainable working lives for IC nurses.

Approaching retirement: A qualitative study of older nursing assistants' experiences of work in residential care and late-career planning.

In many countries, eldercare workers are approaching retirement. To remain attractive to older and experienced workers, organizations need to understand how employees nearing retirement think about and experience their work situation. This qualitative study investigated how older nursing assistants within residential care for older people experienced aging at work, their psychosocial work environment, and their late-career planning. Semi-structured interviews with eight nursing assistants (aged 55-61 years) in Sweden were analyzed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach. The results show that the psychosocial work environment was perceived as stressful and considered a long-term health risk, and that (future) health and work ability were key factors determining nursing assistants' late-career planning. Moreover, personal resources and social support from colleagues seemed protective against job demands. Aspects considered in late-career planning also included personal finances and meaningfulness of work. While these findings may be sample-specific, they still provide insights into the experiences of an important occupational group. This means that the findings can be useful for organizations aiming at promoting successful and sustainable aging-in-workplace and encouraging extended working lives.

Health- and Age-Related Workplace Factors as Predictors of Preferred, Expected, and Actual Retirement Timing: Findings from a Swedish Cohort Study.

To address the challenges of demographic aging, governments and organizations encourage extended working lives. This study investigates how individual health- and age-related workplace factors contribute to preferred, expected and actual retirement timing, as well as to the congruency between preferences vs. expectations, and preferences vs. actual retirement. We used data from a representative Swedish longitudinal sample comprising 4058 workers aged 50-64, with follow-up data regarding actual retirement timing available for 1164 respondents. Multinomial logistic regression analyses suggest that later preferred, expected, and actual retirement timing were, to different extent, influenced by better health, an age-friendly workplace and feeling positive regarding the future at work. Emotional exhaustion, age-related inequalities at work and experiencing aging as an obstacle increased the likelihood of preferring to retire earlier than one expected to, over retiring at the time one expected to. Those with better health and positive work prospects were less likely to prefer retiring earlier than they expected to, and more likely to being "pulled toward working until 65 and beyond", compared to being "pulled toward early retirement". Experiencing aging as an obstacle decreased the chances of being "pulled toward working until 65 and beyond". The results provide insights on how to facilitate extended working lives.