Abstract
This manuscript reviews the current nursing labor market in the USA and the demographic changes leading to marked increases in the median ages of actively employed nurses. With the aging of the ‘baby boomer’ cohort, more registered nurses (RNs) and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) will be needed at a time when retirement will be causing a large nursing exodus. This increasing demand for nursing services at a time of supply shortages creates an urgency to consider new ways of sustaining and retaining nurses no longer able to perform strenuous physical care activities. Technology usage is advocated as a key means to address the nursing shortage by re-tooling mature nurses with new career opportunities. Re-designing nursing practice to take advantage of various technology offerings has widespread implications for nurse educators, administrators and regulators. Specific health information technologies are discussed that support the coordination of care across sites and offer the potential means to bridge traditional divisions in health care services among primary, acute, post acute, and home care settings. Promising technology enabled nurse led initiatives are highlighted. Additionally, international data support that the nursing workforce issues have applicability beyond the USA. Conclusions suggest that technology offers both promises and pitfalls in addressing ways to support and retain the nursing workforce. Nurses want to adopt and use new technologies that support their ability to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their nursing care across a wide range of settings. New opportunities through technology innovations present themselves for nurses seeking non-traditional roles and new ways of caring for patients that are not bedside focused. The challenge to gerontechnologists is to leverage the positive aspects and guide, direct, and counsel technology developers and adopters to overcome the challenges and pitfalls. Partnership approaches between technologists, nurses, and other clinical end-users are recommended from the design stages onward. Ultimately, nurses want to nurse their patients, not a technology.
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