ABSTRACTAvailability of health professionals is fundamental to population health. Multiple trends contribute to provider shortages.
Purpose: Develop and validate conceptual models of early and involuntary retirement among registered nurses (RNs) and allied health professionals (AHPs).
Method: A review of retirement literature (n = 23 studies). Any factor reported as predictive of early or involuntary retirement was incorporated into a model. To achieve face validity, we conducted interviews with Canadian RNs/AHPs (n = 14).
Results: The conceptual model of early retirement had eight categories (38 variables): workplace characteristics, socio-demographics, attitudes/beliefs, broader context, organizational factors, family, lifestyle/health, and work-related. The model of involuntary retirement had four categories (eight variables): broader context, socio-demographics, lifestyle/health, and family. Caregiving responsibilities (variable) was added based on interview data.
Discussion: RNs/AHPs consider many factors when contemplating retirement; some are sensitive to intercession, which generates possibilities for extending the work lives of older RNs and AHPs.
Keywords: aging; allied health professions; early retirement; health human resources; infirmières; involuntary retirement; professions paramédicales; préretraite; registered nurse; ressources humaines en santé; retraite involontaire; vieillissement.