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bol for our salary survey story on the graying of the surgical workforce. As you'll see in "Not the Retiring Type" on page 28, Ms. Schmuckal is hardly alone when it comes to OR nurses
working into their golden years. Of the nearly 900 surgical facility leaders we surveyed, about 30% said they were planning to delay their own retirements and 40% said their staff nurses were planning to work into their 60s and 70s as well. The No. 1 reason for working longer: the fear of outliving your savings and investments, forgoing a good salary and healthcare benefits, and not being able to maintain the lifestyle to which you've grown accustomed. But several nurses also told us they're not hanging up their scrubs for the pure love of the job, for the circle of friends and for the sense of purpose, for the need to stay busy and to feel connected.
"You want to know why a 70-year-old is still working? I like my job," says Ms. Schmuckal. "I like health care. I like working with the surgeons and taking care of patients."
Your older nurses are trusted and reliable caregivers, natural preceptors and buffers against a nursing shortage. But managing a mix of younger and older nurses creates many challenges for you. Gen X and the Geritol Generation have very different views on, well, everything — including how long they plan to stick around.
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Hey, something's different. Yes, you'll notice as you page through this issue that we freshened up the look of the magazine. Not a total redesign, but more of a sprucing up from our talented art director, Ethan Anderson. As always, we hope you enjoy. OSM
