Nurses General Nursing
Published Nov 8, 2010
PetiteOpRN
326 Posts
A friend of mine is a manager who recently went to a management seminar. It was the same old thing until they asked what peoples' biggest problems are. One person said "employees under 30," and everyone in the room agreed. They find this demographic to be needy and entitled (I'm sure this does not apply to everyone, but is a much bigger trend than in past years).
My department recently hired MANY new nurses, and all but one is under 30. They call in when they are hung over, go home early, and they're lazy at work. The only thing I can depend on them to do is get their coffee break. I'm sure these nurses have many fine qualities, and maybe the rest of us are just martyrs (put in the full 46ish hours a week, mop our own ORs, etc), but it's just a whole different attitude. People in other departments note a similar trend. Radiology techs will refuse to go to certain cases because it will interfere with their lunch.
I'm sure I will get a bunch of posts from 20-somethings about how hard they work, and I'm sure there are some out there who really do work their tails off. But managers (and coworkers) are starting to take note of "generation me."
GM2RN
1,850 Posts
Nursing is my second career, so I've seen this trend in other professions as well as nursing.
SnowStar4
468 Posts
It's not just nursing, but you are right. I am 29 and often find myself saying "these kids today have no work ethic".
GilaRRT
1,905 Posts
So, if your like me and fit in that over 30 category; you are either a martyr or an overachieving dinosaur? Getting older really does suck...
However, I've seen good and bad in all age categories. I'm not sure such a sweeping generalisation should apply to all people of a specific age group. This "generation me" concept seems to live and thrive through all ages among people in the United States IMHO.
StephRN08
40 Posts
OK I am a
So, if your like me and fit in that over 30 category; you are either a martyr or an overachieving dinosaur? Getting older really does suck...However, I've seen good and bad in all age categories. I'm not sure such a sweeping generalisation should apply to all people of a specific age group. This "generation me" concept seems to live and thrive through all ages among people in the United States IMHO.
The OP was clear in clarifying that this does not apply to "all people" in the under 30 age group. Although I agree that the "generation me" concept has crept into other age groups, it is still much more prevalent in those under 30.
Perhaps, but anecdotally, I know many lazy people with a huge sense of entitlement who are in their 40's and 50's.
MntnGirl
54 Posts
At my place of employment I dont' think one of
tyvin, BSN, RN
1,620 Posts
It ll goes in trends; when I was a kid they were complaining saying the same thing and it will continue to do as history does in fact repeat it self. Not only in nursing but in all aspects of life. The previous generations always complain about the other and so forth and so on.
silentRN
559 Posts
Nursing is full of battle axes
nursel56
7,080 Posts
Thank you for that insightful input! Actually, I wish you were right! The nurses I thought were battle-axes were mostly just old gruff ladies with hearts of gold and miles and miles of experience. What I wouldn't give to hear their white orthopedic-lookin' nurse shoes clunk down the hall one more time. . . .
On the under 30s - I have noticed that more students and new grads than before seem to have a "what are you going to do for me" attitude rather than the other way around but the new grad I work with every day has the work ethic of the aforementioned battle-axes. Not enough sample points yet I guess.
OC_An Khe
1,018 Posts
If allnurses was around 30 years ago this topic would have been relevant then also. The older cohort of the baby boomers were also considered the "entitled generation" and their work ethic was also wildly criticized; particularly by the then old battle axes who received their nursing training during the 1930-1940's.They learned that work ethic wasn't just a cute phrase but rather a necessity. Those that didn't learn weren't successful in any career. The same will happen to this and succeeding generations of