News and Events

The Center for Third Age Nurses At HNU Is a Model for the Future

July 10, 2008

Dr. Fay Bower, chair of the Nursing Program at Holy Names University, has announced new developments and recent survey results at the university’s Center for Third Age Nurses.

Dr. Bower said the Center intends to stem the tide of nurses leaving the profession. “Nurses who have been in the profession for many years get burned out,” she said, “But there are ways they can remain in the profession and make very important contributions.” She said the center shows nurses ways to stay in the system and how to continue to be productive.

The Center will do this by:

• Demonstrating to nurses ways of staying in the profession.
• Providing critical resources and services.
• Working with hospitals to create new opportunities for nurses.
• Holding workshops to inform/educate nurses on this new concept.
• Conducting ongoing research to determine needs and solutions.

The Center was formed after Dr. Bower and Bill Sadler, PhD, HNU adjunct professor and author of  five books, including Third Age: Six Principles of Growth and Renewal After Forty, identified critical issues for nurses over 45 years of age that include:

• Most nurses at this stage in their careers still love nursing.
• They do not love their specific jobs; they are getting burned out.
• They want to contribute to the healthcare profession but they want to do something different now (they also are not in a position to leave work because they need the income).
• They do not know where to go to learn about their options.

These conclusions were gleaned from results of several focus groups conducted by HNU Nursing adjunct professors Marcia E. Canton, PhD, RN, and Anna C. Mullins, DNSc, RN. They surveyed more than 250 nurses, aged 45-plus, in focus groups conducted throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bower and Sadler held a workshop on the HNU campus in the Fall of 2007 and invited nurses to discuss these issues. Nearly 30 nurses attended. Then, recently, they held another workshop, at Washington Hospital of Fremont, attended by 33 nurses. Next, a similar workshop is planned at the John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek this summer.

Some of the options for nurses who want to remain in the system and contribute in a new way include:

• Teaching nurses (clinical faculty)
• Mentoring
• Being Preceptors
• Consulting

The Center, staffed entirely by volunteers at this time, is located in the HNU Nursing Department and has volunteers at other universities and hospitals in the Bay Area.

Looking ahead, the Center has plans for:

• Providing financial planning for nurses (now negotiating with Secure Path for that service)
• Developing a website that will provide information, resources and offer interactivity for interested nurses.

Bower and Sadler are currently working on a new book about Third Age Nurses.