Problems with the aging nurses

[RNGriffin]

Hello Community!

While this post may seem a little insensitive for some, others can totally relate. I shouldn't have to verbalize "age has nothing to do with the ability to do the job". But, as of recently the aging nursing population has refused to step down from the high paced work place environment when they clearly can see they're no longer fit to run with the 20-late 50's crowd. This is not to say some beyond their late 50s aren't able to hold their own, but I have a charge nurse who is well into her 70s who refuses to stand too long, assist patients with immobility issues, hell**excuse me** she refuses to work with patients with anything cardi related.

The question is: when will nurses accept like with any other field you have to know when your body has had enough of the? While we need nurses, of course, are we that desperate that we place the burden on others to ration with the census?

[LynnLRN]

I keep seeing people mentioning the younger generation being on their phones or in the break room all the time etc. My question is, is this preventing them from getting their work done and making others pick up their slack?? Otherwise those comments don't really apply to the OP's post. It is very rare that I don't get all my tasks done (and even some of the evening shifts task) and I once in a while will sit in the break room and have a snack or go off the floor to get a coffee. So just because nurses are not constantly go go go maybe they are just efficient and good with time management. On the other hand I also have seen my fair share of nurses laugh and have a good time and then all of a sudden be slammed and asking for help because now they have a new admit. Had they got things done ahead of time in preparation for a new admit they wouldn't have needed help.

I'm probably going to get flamed for this next comment but I'm on the internet guess I don't care. I'm so sick of the younger "entitled" comments also. You 40-60 years olds raised us!!!! I guess I just take it personally because I am of that age group. Of course I see that "entitled" attitude among some of my peers. However, I have had to work hard for everything I have and do not expect anything to be handed to me. However, maybe the older people who feel that we should have to pick up their slack because they have worked for 30+years (sounds entitled to me) are the ones that created the "entitled" younger generation.

I guess I just feel like If I'm not performing at the desired expectations of said job then I would completely expect to be let go. This definitely does not hold true across the age span. I also think the employers look at this. I definitely see newbies let go because they aren't holding up their end of the bargain more often than nurses that have been there 20 years (and these are nurses that have made multiple mistakes and have been brought to the attention of management). Maybe its because if I'm younger I'm more capable of assimilating into another job???

[RNGriffin]

LynnRN you seem the most reasonable with your responses. This is not because you agree with my original posting. But, you actually took the time to understand, this was not a general statement of an entire generation. Although, we've been deemed the "entitled" generation, what's to say of the individuals who are older and feel the younger generation owe them the world because of age?

I would never disrespect anyone. But, if these posters knew my back story and credentials I am certain entitled would be the last term used to describe me.

I for one was homeless at 16; worked my way through high school at an Arby's in Brooklyn while my family resided in the wealthiest neighborhood on Long Island, worked 2 jobs while completing my Bachelors in Health Information Management, returned back to school to receive a Masters in Health Informatics, climbed from a Medical Records Technician to the Director of Health Information management and Physician documentation specialist...Resigned from that position to complete a BSN in nursing & presently going to school for my MSN! Entitled? I don't think these individuals could handle my job on their best day!

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

What major hospital doesn't offer a pension after you've vested? If you work in a SNF or a convalescent hospital, you should have been looking to transfer to a hospital while you were young enough to do it. I started off in long term back in the early 90s and got out when opportunity knocked. As for no nest egg for retirement, who's fault is that?

I am 45. The opportunity did knock..and I choose not to answer. What I do everyday is very important and I am damn good at it too.

Love from an "old bat" in LTC....be there until I need my own bed too!

[RNGriffin]

I am 45. The opportunity did knock..and I choose not to answer. What I do everyday is very important and I am damn good at it too.

Love from an "old bat" in LTC....be there until I need my own bed too!

You're 8 Years my senior. You took this personally when the post excluded you, even if you felt as though it was targeting a certain age group? You wanted to pick a battle, not converse logically!

[DookieMeisterRN]

Unfortunately this is the way it works on this forum. As soon as 'age' is mentioned even though you clearly stated you were definitely not generalizing, others (and I am going to assume *more experienced* nurses) automatically go on defense and attack.

It makes me wonder if people on these forums don't take the time to thoroughly read a post before assumptions are made, don't care because they think they're always 'right', and/or don't give a rats orifice.

My advice is to consider what it's like to walk in the other persons shoes. There may be a lot more to the story or it could be that this nurse that the OP is based upon has always been that way?And also in the grand scheme of things, does it REALLY matter?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

This thread is getting too heated now to be logical, and that's a shame because it's obviously touched a nerve and got a lot of people thinking....and talking. Perhaps it would be best to step away from the discussion for the night and tackle it again tomorrow.:)

People are too complicated to pigeonhole. They don't fit into neat little boxes as we would like them to. One cannot look at a human being of any age and make assumptions about them based on a preconceived set of ideas. I'm 53 and will never be able to work on a floor again because I'm too dilapidated physically to handle it, but I'm a pretty darned good management nurse with excellent assessment skills. I know another nurse who's only 48 and had to retire completely from nursing for health reasons. OTOH, I have a good friend who's 20 years older than me and still works as a CNA in a nursing home! You just can't presume all, or even the majority of people are a certain way at certain ages.

All of us come from different backgrounds, different eras, different parts of the country/world, different ways of doing things. However, in most things we are much more similar than we are different......we all want what's best for ourselves, our families, our friends. And more than that, we want to matter. That's what it's really all about, and being critical of others' methods of achieving that end doesn't serve anyone well. Just saying.

[DookieMeisterRN]

You're 8 Years my senior. You took this personally when the post excluded you, even if you felt as though it was targeting a certain age group? You wanted to pick a battle, not converse logically!

Converse logically?!?Now that's funny! You know you're on Allnurses.Com right?I would practically give my right arm to have a forum to go to for intelligent, meaningful conversations about nursing and all it entails.

[elprup, BSN, RN]

while you may have a valid concern about your cn, i would caution you against stereotyping all nurses of a certain age, as each and every nurse is unique in their abilities and presentation.i'll make a deal with you:if you resist from condemning all middle-aged nurses as incapable, i will resist from condemning all 20-somethings, as cocky, arrogant, and short-sighted.deal?leslie

Freakin hilarious but down right correct! Amen, I am on your side!

[prmenrs, RN]

Moderator here---It's getting a little toasty in here. How about a cooling off period? I'm closing it, will re-open in the morning.