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Current nursing shortages are being reported in countries around the world. Especially rural and remote areas face challenges in attracting sufficient numbers of qualified staff. According to international literature, strategies to alleviate shortages focus mainly on the recruitment of younger nurses. However, there are growing numbers of studies conducted in Canada, the United States and Northern Europe addressing the importance of engaging older nurses. With current ongoing population ageing and a shrinking pool of younger nurses, strategies focussing solely on recruitment will further exacerbate shortages. Australia´s Northern Territory (NT) is no exception. Very little is known about the approach to engage older nurses to alleviate workforce shortages. In addition to a declining pool of younger nurses there is a large cohort of nurses nearing retirement in the NT. With this cohort walking out of the workforce, significant knowledge in remote area nursing will be lost. There is a strong need to re-engineer workplaces to cater to the needs of the older nursing workforce and find meaningful ways to continue their engagement.

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Katharina Voit recently graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Krems, Austria, with a Masters by Coursework Degree in Healthcare Management. She is currently enrolled in Masters by Research studies at Charles Darwin University in Australia.

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