generation gap among nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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i have noticed that the those who are baby boomers are more timid compared to the gen x. gen x nurses are assertive of their rights while the baby boomers are passive..

have u experienced "generation gap" or differences between the people u work with?:idea:

why ever would you want to make generalizations like that?

young people just don't know anything..........:trout: ;)

young people know more than what old people think they know. ;)

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
young people know more than what old people think they know. ;)

isn't that the truth.........my grown kids are always surprising me with their intuition, their maturity, their 'together-ness' for lack of a better word. they are so much smarter than i was at their ages, it's almost embarrassing.

You can't generalize like that - the youngest baby boomers were born in '64, and would hardly accept the "timid" label. There are all kinds of nurses in the various generations... only in the past, "assertiveness" was often called "bitchiness" ;)

DeLana

Some people aren't assertive, they're just bitchy. :roll

Specializes in psych.

you know, I'm 25. I worked with a male 50's y.o. nurse. Not only did he "obey" and conform to authority, he thought all of the younger nurses below him should bow to him. Which considering he has more years experience than I have been alive, I was always open to suggestions and always was respectful. But you're right, I never bowed to him. There were more than one occassion where i'd find pages in the communication book i had written come up missing. :rolleyes: :uhoh3:

And, our DON seems to think we all should be working more, spending time with family less, and I totally saw myself in this:

My experience has been that the older nurses were more apt to put work first and that younger nurses put their family first . . .not working more just because the hospital is short staffing.
Some people aren't assertive, they're just bitchy.

True, but that's a topic for a different thread. The OP brought up assertiveness, which is a good quality to use in the workplace.

True, but that's a topic for a different thread. The OP brought up assertiveness, which is a good quality to use in the workplace.

Ya think? :roll

Specializes in Looking for a career in NICU.
i have noticed that the those who are baby boomers are more timid compared to the gen x. gen x nurses are assertive of their rights while the baby boomers are passive..

have u experienced "generation gap" or differences between the people u work with?:idea:

as a generation x'er, i have always thought it was just the opposite. i'm actually very embarrassed at how my generation is stereotyped as lazy, that we live off our parents, rack up tons of debt, have college degrees we aren't using, had this crazy idea about no longer disciplining children, and we are the first generation in american history that has not done better financially than the generation before us.

not a great legacy to live under.

Actually, I have found that the newer RN's will say "this doc doesn't like to be bothered with that so we don't call him until the morning."

The longer I've been in nursing the more I live to pi$$ off some doc for being a jerk. I truly enjoy it. I have actually said to a doc on the phone "well gee, I'm sorry you have a patient in the hospital at night, but..." Pay back is b%^&*!

In my area, the new RN's are are leaving in droves. I have friends who work in ICU's that they cannot staff properly. The young ones don't stay. It's only us old fools that put up and do it.

Specializes in Looking for a career in NICU.

I'm with you on that one...while I wouldn't live to upset a doc, if I needed to call them, I would call them, and if they threw a fit, too bad.

As they say, 'That is why you get paid the big bucks'

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I find there are great nurses in all the "generations" I have worked with a lady who was 70 and had returned to work cause she was "bored". She was one of the youngest-at-heart and hard workers I ever knew. I learned much from her.

I also love the younger ones coming in; their enthusiasm is really awesome.

I have found, also, there are jerks all up and down the "age chains". I have learned much from all of them as well. I learned my assertion skills from the ones who pushed me too hard.

Now, The new nurses bring usually very excellent observation skills and catch things my jaundiced eye misses.

The older ones have taught me, as much as nursing changes, one thing never does:

the needs of people remain the same across the years. BASIC and SOLID nursing skills never change.

I have found, to open the "older" nurses up, is to ask them about how things have changed and how they did things "back in the day". Most of them warm up and definately love to share their stories....and then much nicer to me as a result. The so-called true nurse-eaters are not that common as people have us believe. And even THESE folks can be opened up if you work at it, with respect. Respect up and down the chain is the very bridge of understanding for all generations, not just in nursing, but life. Come on board with respect, and most will respect you right back.

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I was born in 1958 which makes me a boomer. No one would ever think of me as passive - lol.

I think you need to allow for individual traits.

I think the OP is probably too new to have been around and met enough "old" nurses to make a considered judgement.

I graduated in '71. I laid out of bedside nursing for roughly 15 years, but kept up on the education front. Came back to a neuro unit (I'd NEVER done neuro and oddly enough NEVER had a lot of experience with surgical pts. Half our census is back surgeries. A lot of new stuff to get my head around).

The staff, young and old, taught me a lot and kept me going when I really doubted if I'd ever make the grade.

BUT: (And here is where the OP needs to take note) it was very soon after I was done with orientation that newer grads were coming to me for help when they felt out of their depth. I think there is a "been there, done that" quality to someone who's been a nurse for 35 years. I could assess the situation better than they could. (Yep... this is really bad; what say we call the Rapid Response Team. Or, settle down, you need more data before you hit the panic button.)

As per old nurses working with MD's... please consider that in the 70's it was against the LAW (nurse practice act) to take almost any initiative. Today, I might start an IV and begin a bolus of NS and THEN call the MD to tell him/her the pt's BP is tanking. Back then, I could have lost my license. (Even so... we took risks and made decisions that had to be made. But not if we could help it.)

It still amazes me when I call a doctor today and he/she says... "So, OK what do you want me to order?" and we discuss it like peer professionals! Whoa! That's new!

And... maybe you-all can help me understand something about some young nurses. After 12 hours, it's the youngsters who are tired and complaining about how hard they've worked. What's the deal? I'm not the only one noticing this...other "salty" nurses on the unit have observed the same thing. We don't get it. It's ALWAYS the kids who are whipped. Us old gals are just plugging along.

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