Do you see a generational gap in nursing?

[egglady]

I don't know if it is just me, or just where I work, but I am seeing a major generational gap between nurses. The ones in their mid 20's just seem to be lacking a work ethic. I am not an old foggie, I am 43. the newer gals just dont get why they cant have day shift, or every holiday off, or why seniority in a union facility counts. They do not understand that it has taken many of us more than 10 years to get full time, or day shift, and that we all have to work holidays. I spent many Christmas at work instead of with my kids. I havent used sick time in 3 years. some of these new ones call in with the weirdest ailments, just to find out they were hung over!! I am not bashing young nurses, or "eating the young". I am just seeing a lack of work ethic with this generation. My friend who is in business sees the same. Did we as parents screw this generation up some how? Or will they eventually grow up? Again, not bashing anyone, just curious....

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i am surrounded by people that are not "twenty somethings" that will call a cna instead of helping a patient to the bathroom,

if you have a problem with the nurses that are younger than you, and are newer nurses, if you are a good nurse, i can say that odds are they look up to you and would respect what you had to say if you tell them they are behaving badly, so maybe you should try handling the situation in a respectful manner to try to fix the problem?

and as far as union seniority goes, i get it, you have been nurses for however many years, and missed however many holidays, blah blah blah...as far as i am concerned, it should be the most qualified gets the job, the one who works the hardest gets the shift they want...it shouldn't matter if you have been there for five years or fifteen. .

sometimes it's more appropriate to call a cna to help the patient to the bathroom than it is to interrupt what you're doing that only an rn can do in order to do a job that a cna can do, and should be doing rather than playing farmville on facebook.

one of the "generational gap" issues i've noticed is that some of the younger and newer nurses don't look up to anyone older or more experienced and no matter how tactfully, positively and constructively you try to deal with the issue just aren't interested in hearing it. most often the folks who think they know everything are under 25 -- by the time you have a bit more life experience you realize you're not as smart as you thought you were.

union (or hospital) seniority is an objective standard by which to decide who gets day shift, christmas off or sent to the conference. you might not like it because in your 20s you have very little of either. but honestly, how are you going to measure who works hardest? there are obvious outliers -- people who either work very hard or very little -- but most everyone is in the middle part of the bell curve. my opinion of who works harder (the person who gets the most done) may differ wildly from someone else's opinion (the nurse who is constantly in motion.)

[llg, PhD, RN]

my opinion of who works harder (the person who gets the most done) may differ wildly from someone else's opinion (the nurse who is constantly in motion.)

i read something just yesterday that relates to this. it was about students thinking they deserve a good grade just because they tried hard. the same is true of on-the-job performance.

just because you "try hard" or "want it really bad" or "keep moving," etc. does not mean you are doing a better job -- or that you are accomplishing more than someone who doesn't seem to be as active as you seem. the professor in the article used this example: if you try really hard to move a heavy object and it doesn't move ... you failed to move it. your great effort did not accomplish anything. some people accomplish a lot by doing very little. other people accomplish very little even though they actively try a lot. in many situations, we are evaluated on what we accomplish, not on the effort we made to get it done.

experience workers can sometimes accomplish more with seemingly less effort because of their expertise. that doesn't mean that there aren't some lazy old people. some are very lazy. but it is sometimes true that the more experienced nurse doesn't have to run around like crazy to provide good care compared to a less experienced nurse. their judgment is valuable -- as is their loyalty to the organization. their positions stay filled without the organization having to orient new people to orient replacements. those to things (judgment and loyalty) are sufficiently valuable to the management to keep them around even if they are less than ideal employees. an inexperienced nurse has neither judgment nor a track record of loyalty. therefore, their jobs are on a less secure foundation in terms of their relationship with management. their loyalty is unknown and their judgment/expertise is still limited.

just a few additional thoughts ...

[Wishinonastar, BSN]

I agree with your basic premise up to a point -- but not 100%. I think there is a need to find a happy medium. People who have "careers" and not just a series of "jobs" are often happier in their lives overall.

Yes I used to believe the same. Then when you get over the hump facing the future of retirement and can see with disillusionment that your hard work goes unrecognized and unrewarded, and in the end you realize that the only thing that matters is those you love, then things look different. I think those who just have "jobs" and don't work so hard to build a "career" seem happier. It is a matter of balance though. You have to have meaningful work and some joy in work to get something out of it other than just a check. Just don't put work before life. I doubt anyone who was dying ever thought to themselves "I wish I would have worked more and spent less time with my family".

[holisticallyminded]

" I doubt anyone who was dying ever thought to themselves "I wish I would have worked more and spent less time with my family". "

And I think this really sums it up as far as the differences in thought. I think many people have been raised knowing that this protestant work ethic of working really hard to get somewhere just isn't panning out for so many people. And yes, I lost most of my retirement too!

Look, I'm 36, I've worked my a** off since I was 16 years old. I've changed careers (or added to the old one), worked while pregnant, nursing, raising two kids (had the first very young), worked full-time while going to school, volunteered time, networked, worked crap hours, double shifts (alone!), haven't had a christmas off in years, etc, etc. The only one watching out for me is ME. My employer doesn't give a rat's a** in hell how many extra shifts I work or what I bring to the company. They want a body to fill in the space that will earn them their profits. PERIOD. I'm so sick and tired of hearing about the younger generation's work ethic. We're all working for a paycheck or we wouldn't be there. Reality. And I hope to god they get what they want by whatever means. They deserve better. Whine all they want! I don't care- I'm not managment.

And I'm currently attempting to cut my hours. I've learned that there will never be enough money and I need a life again.

This isn't a nursing issue. This is an AMERICAN issue.

[Wishinonastar, BSN]

holisticallyminded there are not enough ways to give kudos for what you just wrote. AMEN, Hallelujah, and drink a toast to that!!!!:yeah::yeah:

[turnerwastaken]

Hi,whilst only at the tender age of 34,i too have had times when I have thought that younger nurses just don't get it,but I quickly found out that I am wrong. There is always someone out there that stands out amongst the crowd and these people have proven to me over time that our opinions are often jaded by the environment that we work in . I don't think that they don't get it, I think that they are better at sticking up for themselves than older nurses. A coment was also posted about learning things from older nurses- I believe that you can learn something from anybody, younger nurses also have lessons that they can teach you,even if it is just tolerance that you are learning.People learn from example so you being an older nurse are in a good postion to teach them-if your teaching pertains to work ethic well so be it. Experience would tell you that people will try to copy those that they respect,so gain there respect-I think respect is something everyone has to earn,not just automatically given due to seniorority. Have their parents screwed them up-yeah probably,but like all things in life some people learn things quicker than others-so be patient with,give them guidance and those that are meant to blossom will

[kenni]

I completely understand and agree. a lot of them are just in it for the money. I finished school in my late 20s, but even in school I saw how the barely-legal students always complained about the work, why do they have to do care plans, why do they have to do drug cal (the pharmacist has already done it for you?), and why they can't leave clinicals early. I would get so annoyed with them because they obviously had never had any job or responsibility. I would wonder what kind of nurses they would turn out to be, IF they finished the program.

[celeste7767]

I am 61 and have been unable to work for 2 years due to physical disabilities which I partially attribute to my very anal personality as welll as one that is very detail oriented. I first noticed a change in the way my colleagues worked on our very busy CVICU which had every patient from a new heart transplant, to one on a total artificial heart, to one who's transplant failed and was being barely kept alive with no heart but by cardiopulmonary bypass. In 1996 we had a crew that would pitch in during any crisis where ever they were needed. It was amazing how low our infection rates were and how patient families commented on the incredible teamwork they observed. But as the nursing shortage was getting more attention via nursing journals, commercials, and the nurse on a sunny beach playing volleyball was pictured as what a travel nurse could expect, I began to find that my colleagues were no longer colleagues or even coworkers. They did their own thing and when they were done, they found some place to hide. One hospital in Houston actually drove me out of my position by sabbotaging my work as was brought to my attention by my patient's wife. I found it harder and harder to find anyone to help me turn a patient or help hold one over so I clean one up. Finally after doing a very thorough oral cleansing on a patient who was intubated, the patient's husband asked me what I was doing and I explained the what and why of oral care. He said that I was the only nurse he had seen perform that procedure on his wife since she had been admitted 4 months prior. After that, I was personna non grata with most the other nurses. I had a conference with the manager who did not want to lose me, but nothing changed and I left.

My husband died 2 yrs ago and he was astounded at the ignorance of the nurses who cared for him and the lack of examing him, listening to his heart and lungs, checking for edema, etc. He was particularly angered by one nurse who gave him an IM injection with him bending over an exam table and holding up the leg on side that the injection was going to be given. The nurse INSERTED THE NEEDLE SO SLOWLY THAT HE CAME OUT OF THE EXAM ROOM LIMPING FROM THE MUSCLES IN HIS CALF AND GLUTEAL MUSCLE CRAMPING SO BADLY. I wanted to go back and complain but he just wanted to get home. (He had bladder cancer). But I did take the time to report the nurse to her supervisor, the Chief Nursing Officer, as well as the CEO. I never would have believed aany nurse could be that ignorant except that it was my own husband who told me about it.

Since then I have found that more than 60% of the RNs I have had any interaction with are rude, never look you in the eye, never smile, never make any small talk to put a patient at ease, and one actually threw a bedpan at my daughter who has ESLD from Heptatitis C and told her she better drink down the barium and if she vomited it up, she would see to it that she was thrown out of the hospital and didn't receive the tests she needed to determine the presence of varices and gastro enteritis.

It is only my personal opinion that nursing is not a job like working in a GM auto plant, or bakery, or even a teacher. Bedside nursing is a profession that can be done professionally by only a very few. Unfortunately, now we have people from all other failed professions that are jumping at the chance to be a nurse and have a steady job. And for all of us baby-boomers, GOD HELP US ALL.

[JacknSweetpea]

I think this is a tricky issue. I think it depends on the person and their own work ethic. I'm 28 and I don't call out as often as some of the nurses whom are in their 50s and 60s....I don't mind though, some of them do have health issues. However, I don't devote my life to work. I do a good job when I'm there but I'm in no ways a "company person". I only pick up extra when I want to. My husband and I come first. I realize that I'm just a warm body with a license and can be replaced when the higher-ups see it fit to replace me. I think this is just a sign of the times. Employees are not loyal to their employers because their employers don't give a rat's *** about them. It's just how it is these days unfortunately.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Apparently so, here's the new grad they have me orienting.

:lol2::lol2::lol2: :yeah:

[november17, ASN, RN]

I don't know if it is just me, or just where I work, but I am seeing a major generational gap between nurses. The ones in their mid 20's just seem to be lacking a work ethic. I am not an old foggie, I am 43.

That's hilarious, I'm 30 and I find the nurses in their 50s at the facility I work seem to be the ones lacking work ethic. Most of them spend more time 1)yacking on the phone 2)talking about their weekends 3)eating home made banana bread 4)having pot lucks 5)selling avon crap than doing their jobs. The ones on dayshift can be particularly a nightmare to follow.

Maybe its just where you work hiring crappy employees that's the problem, not the entire generation.

[Wishinonastar, BSN]

In some ways I see a similar pattern at my office November17, but I think what I see is that the nurses in their 50s have made the workplace their family and their social life. They seldom call off, they work well together, and they blend work and play in a way that the younger ones do not. Oh I find it annoying sometimes when they all bring in food and make it into a big smorgasboard instead of a workplace, but I have to admit that these gals look at work as being a social time. They are not the ones who will quit and job hop or call off for a hangover. They are the diehards who have been there forever. I find after 11 years that I am starting to flow towards them and away from the stressed-out harried (are you out of your mind thinking about Avon when we have all this work to do!!!) group. I still tend to work through my break and look at the Avon books with disdain, but I am slowly coming around and do find myself bringing in cookies occasionally....