The future of the Australian midwifery workforce - impacts of ageing and workforce exit on the number of registered midwives.
Adult
Aged
Aging
Attitude of Health Personnel
Australia
Female
Health Policy
Health Workforce
/ trends
Humans
Intention
Maternal Health Services
/ organization & administration
Middle Aged
Midwifery
/ statistics & numerical data
Nurse Midwives
/ psychology
Personal Satisfaction
Pregnancy
Retirement
Surveys and Questionnaires
Health policy
Health workforce
Midwifery workforce
Retirement
Satisfaction
Journal
Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives
ISSN: 1878-1799
Titre abrégé: Women Birth
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 101266131
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Feb 2021
Feb 2021
Historique:
received:
29
08
2019
revised:
07
01
2020
accepted:
29
02
2020
pubmed:
11
4
2020
medline:
9
2
2021
entrez:
11
4
2020
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Ensuring an adequate supply of the midwife workforce will be essential to meet the future demands for maternity care within Australia. Aim: To project the overall number of midwives registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the timing of their retirement to 2043 based upon the ageing of the population. Using data on the number of registered midwives released by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia we calculated the five-year cumulative attrition rate of each five-year age group. This attrition rate was then utilized to estimate the number of midwives registered in each five-year time period from 2018 to 2043. We then estimated the number of midwives that would be registered after also accounting for stated retirement intentions. Between 2018 and 2023 the overall number of registered midwives will decline from 28,087 to 26,642. After this time there is expected to be growth in the total number, reaching 28,392 in 2028 and 55,747 in 2043. If midwives did relinquish their registration at a rate indicated in previous workforce satisfaction surveys, the overall number of registered midwives would decline to 19,422 in 2023, and remain below 2018 levels until 2038. Due to the age distribution of the current registered midwifery workforce the imminent retirement of a large proportion of the workforce will see a decline in the number of registered midwives in the coming years. Additional retirement due to workforce dis-satisfaction may exacerbate this shortfall.
Sections du résumé
PROBLEM
OBJECTIVE
Ensuring an adequate supply of the midwife workforce will be essential to meet the future demands for maternity care within Australia.
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Aim: To project the overall number of midwives registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the timing of their retirement to 2043 based upon the ageing of the population.
METHODS
METHODS
Using data on the number of registered midwives released by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia we calculated the five-year cumulative attrition rate of each five-year age group. This attrition rate was then utilized to estimate the number of midwives registered in each five-year time period from 2018 to 2043. We then estimated the number of midwives that would be registered after also accounting for stated retirement intentions.
FINDINGS
RESULTS
Between 2018 and 2023 the overall number of registered midwives will decline from 28,087 to 26,642. After this time there is expected to be growth in the total number, reaching 28,392 in 2028 and 55,747 in 2043. If midwives did relinquish their registration at a rate indicated in previous workforce satisfaction surveys, the overall number of registered midwives would decline to 19,422 in 2023, and remain below 2018 levels until 2038.
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
Due to the age distribution of the current registered midwifery workforce the imminent retirement of a large proportion of the workforce will see a decline in the number of registered midwives in the coming years. Additional retirement due to workforce dis-satisfaction may exacerbate this shortfall.
Identifiants
pubmed: 32273195
pii: S1871-5192(19)30900-X
doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2020.02.023
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
56-60Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2020 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.