Facilitating the acceptance of employment of older registered nurses among Japanese female registered nurses younger than 65 years old

Objective: In Japan, policies to ensure employment for persons aged 65 and older are being implemented. To facilitate the employment of older registered nurses working in hospitals, the understanding of registered nurses younger than 65 is necessary. We investigated the factors associated with the acceptance of employment of older registered nurses among registered nurses younger than 65. Materials and Methods: The subjects were female registered nurses younger than 65 working in 34 hospitals in Mie Prefecture. We distributed anonymous self-administered questionnaires. We conducted factor analyses of both respondents’ opinions on the employment of “Registered nurses aged 65–69” and “Registered nurses aged 70–74”. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between the “Acceptance of employing registered nurses aged 65–69” and “Opinions on the employment of registered nurses aged 65–69” (Statistical model 1). Moreover, multiple regression analysis was also conducted to examine the associations between the “Acceptance of employing registered nurses aged 70–74” and the “Opinions on the employment of registered nurses aged 70–74” (Statistical model 2). Results: Using factor analyses, the same factors were extracted for both, “Registered nurses aged 65–69” and “Registered nurses aged 70–74”. These factors were: “Health and job performance”, “Utilization of the knowledge and experience of older registered nurses”, “Reducing the workload burden of registered nurses”, and “Manners of older registered nurses”. Using multiple regression analyses, “Health and job performance”, “Utilization of the knowledge and experience of older registered nurses”, and “Reducing the workload burden of registered nurses” were significantly associated with “Acceptance of employing registered nurses aged 65–69” (Statistical model 1). The same 3 factors were also significantly associated with “Acceptance of employing registered nurses aged 70–74” (Statistical model 2). Conclusion: Hospital managers must pay careful attention to these 3 factors.