Elderly coworkers becoming a burden.

[o3lissao]

I work on a busy telemetry unit. We have an RN on night shift that is in her 70s and while she is the nicest, sweet old lady, with a great sense of humor, when it comes to nursing, ITS TIME TO RETIRE GRANDMA. The saddest thing about this situation is that she genuinely cares about her patients, she talks kindly to them and really wants to help, unfortunately she looks like she should BE the patient, not caring for one. We recently (over a year ago) switched to a new computer system and her computer skills were poor to begin with. She can't enter simple orders, if she looks away from the cursor when scrolling she steers the mouse off that direction and doesnt understand why the screen isn't moving. If there is an alert or warning on a med when she is trying to administer it that patient had better just forget about it. She cries in front of patients when she gets flustered, she cries on the phone with doctors when she is flustered. The worst is when she sits at her computer at the nurses station for hours muttering in a high pitched whine to herself. She complains to herself about not knowing what is going on with the computer. We have all started ignoring her because she wont ask for help, its like she is just hinting out loud hoping for someone to come to her rescue. We used to help her but its to the point now we all want to run and duck for cover. Even when you show her things she is already so flustered at that point its like the information bounces right off. You don't want to show her, you just want to jerk the keyboard out of the way and fix it for her and go on about your day. If we didn't work in the profession we did it might be easier to accomodate her but we are already so busy, so short staffed, and already taking care of a bunch of other helpless geriatrics, its frustrating to have to carry the burden of another employee (elderly or not). She also does things old school ways sometimes and then when newer staff members do them different the patients complain or are concerned about their care. For example, if a patient is giving her a hard time about smoking she will facilitate a smoke break for them just to avoid the confrontation. If the next shift doesn't do that the patient obviously thinks 1 of the 2 is a bad nurse or not qualified and dislikes being jerked around.

Whats more frustrating is the things she gets exempt from because she doesn't do them correctly. We prep patients for bypass surgeries and the whole process is lenghty, time consuming and requires a lot of paperwork, not to mention inserting 2 gigantic IVs, having extra tubing and equipment ready to go with the patient, and preparing the chart, etc etc. She consistently forgot things or didn't do things correctly and the CVOR complained on her so much that eventually when she got a patient assignment that included a CABG prep, she stated our manager said she isnt to take them anymore because she never does them right. HOW IS THAT FAIR? You make the same amount of money, if not more (since you came with the building when it was built), but you arent expected to do the same tasks? In addition the supervisors are annoyed with her so if she is scheduled and someone is to be put on call or needs to leave during the shift because the census drops--its always her because they don't want to put up with her.

I have had patients wake up in the middle of the night and see her in the hall and turn on their light to ask me if they are dreaming or if she is real because of the way she looks. She frightens some of them (long, white ponytail, bright blue eyeshadow). Also, she falls asleep, almost to the point of us thinking she might be narcoleptic. She used to do it frequently when we taped report, less so now that we do face to face, but she has even fallen asleep at the desk in the middle of that. I feel bad because as I said, she is nice and if she were capable she would help you with anything, but a lot of us are starting to think she might not be safe anymore. The issue also is with the hospital which is severly short staffed and just needs a warm body to show up, for which she qualifies.

Anyone else have slow and/or elderly employees they are concerned about/for? Let's hear it.

[OCNRN63, RN]

Ok people, I agree I posted this when I was annoyed in the heat of the moment and came off a little more harsh than I meant too. But let me clarify some things. First, the smoking thing. Our campus has a strict NO SMOKING policy so helpful or not, it poses a major issue when a nurse escorts a patient off the property to ha e a cigarette. They wander over with IV poles, PCA pumps, all that jazz, across a busy street. If that patient gets hit by a car and dies I'm responsible for them, so in terms of going that extra mile, not thanks. No cigarette with worth my license. Next, I do know why she is still working, like someone up there mentioned, she is having difficult retiring because of financial issues. That doesn't make it any less of an issue when I'm trying to care for my patients and have to stop and put out a fire for her. We all have problems. In terms of the bullying and lateral violence, none of us flat out look her in the face and call her old or names. It's just one of those things that comes up when we are in the parking lot on the way out like "man tonight was rough" and mention briefly that she was a contributing factor. It's not like we kick our feet up at the desk and have a hate fest at her expense. As far as wanting to jerk the keyboard from her and fix the computer, that has never actually happened. When we switched to this computer system I was actually the person that came in an extra night to shadow her the entire shift to try to guide her computer troubles but let me tell ya, a person can only take so much. All of the above mentioned was true accounts of the situation, but some of the rhetoric may have been a little more scathing than necessary. But the same people that are telling me not to "judge" are judging me for feeling like I do. I can't help if some people work with older nurses who are so incredie, some aren't and that's just the facts! I'm not saying I've never made a mistake. And in reference to people thinking management wouldn't allow this if they knew it was going on, our hospital is kind of falling apart and just treading water and I couldn't make you believe or understand the crazy stuff that goes on there, this being the least of them. More importantly, this was a post just to rant and see if anyone else had ever experienced the same issues or might have been feeling a little grouchy too. A way to vent instead of taking it out on a co-worker who I know is kind and loves her patients and her job, but might be in the way time to time. Geeze people!

So, no one ever had to take extra time with you when you were a new grad? No one ever drops what they're doing to help you "put out a fire" with one of your patients?

You don't have to be mean to her face to be bullying her. I'm sure she picks up on the sighs, the eye rolls, the body language. She may have even seen you and your co-workers clustered in one of your little after-shift conclaves. She's probably seen you and your co-workers giving each other looks when she's around. If you are as exasperated with her as you say you are, that attitude must be leaching out at work whenever you're working with her. "It's not like we call her 'old'" is almost a laughable defense, if it weren't so sad.

People aren't judging you for being frustrated. They're judging your cruelty toward another member of the profession...another human being.

You don't know her circumstances. You may know a little, but I doubt she would ever confide in the lot of you.

This wasn't a rant. This was a thread started to beat up on older nurses. You even said you posted it to see if others were having to deal with an older nurse.

I wish I knew who she was; I'd love to have a cup of tea with her, give her a hug and let her know that not everyone resents her. She probably has some good stories to share, with all that experience.

[OCNRN63, RN]

I think the OP is new here and did not express her problem/views in a "politically correct" way ... but I think she raises a valid point. She and her colleagues may be dealing with a serious situation in which patients can be harmed. As a profession, we need to develop fair, compassionate ways of dealing with nurses who, because of age or illness or whatever, can no longer meet an acceptable standard of performance.

Many of us will face this issue in our careers -- both as we become less able with advancing age, and as we see it in our colleagues. Just because we were once at the peak of our abilities and able to leap tall buidlings in a single bound does not mean we will always be so capable. How can best handle that when it starts happening to us? How can we help our colleagues cope with those changes and know when it is time to move on to another stage of life? Do we wait until a patient is seriously harmed?

Let's stop bashing the OP for her lack of grace in bringing up the topic ... and start addressing the topic itself. It is a serious one that is expected to become more common as the large number of baby boomers in the workforce start becoming elderly. We can't ignore the reality of it.

I agree, llg; it is a problem that needs to be addressed. But lateral violence toward our older brothers and sisters in nursing is a big problem, too, and that's something that should be taken just as seriously as it is toward new nurses.

​I'm going to step back from this discussion for a bit.

[CodeteamB]

I think the OP is new here and did not express her problem/views in a "politically correct" way ... but I think she raises a valid point. She and her colleagues may be dealing with a serious situation in which patients can be harmed. As a profession, we need to develop fair, compassionate ways of dealing with nurses who, because of age or illness or whatever, can no longer meet an acceptable standard of performance.

Many of us will face this issue in our careers -- both as we become less able with advancing age, and as we see it in our colleagues. Just because we were once at the peak of our abilities and able to leap tall buidlings in a single bound does not mean we will always be so capable. How can best handle that when it starts happening to us? How can we help our colleagues cope with those changes and know when it is time to move on to another stage of life? Do we wait until a patient is seriously harmed?

Let's stop bashing the OP for her lack of grace in bringing up the topic ... and start addressing the topic itself. It is a serious one that is expected to become more common as the large number of baby boomers in the workforce start becoming elderly. We can't ignore the reality of it.

I agree.

OP, I had a very similar situation with a nurse also in her 70s. She was a lovely lady, but quite infirm. She was almost deaf, and post stroke among other health concerns. Long story short she was no longer equipped to do her job, but had financial pressures keeping her in. I felt awful for her as she was constantly afraid of making a mistake and so would pass over many tasks. She was unable to stay awake for night shift and often fell asleep. Management was aware. The many stories I have of difficulties caused by this situation (being charge was a nightmare when she was on) are pretty much irrelevant. In the end she had a second stroke which ended her career.

I know it is frustrating. It puts a lot of pressure on the other staff. IMHO if you have made your concerns known to management the very best thing you can do is give your support and aid to this nurse. In this situation that is your best option to benefit your patients, your coworkers and yourself. Be a leader in stopping the negative fun-making of this person. I know it's tempting, that it vents feelings; it also further dehumanizes this person and makes it easier to look on her with disdain which may feed into your (valid) frustration.

Finally, another anecdote. I work with a nurse I greatly respect. She had a similar situation working with a nurse on her former floor with many of the same complaints about her. (Infirm, fearful and slow). I had this elderly nurse when I was a patient on that floor, and I can tell you that like many nurses, as a patient I am not easy to please. This nurse was in my experience, caring, competent and intelligent and I know for a fact she saved me from a serious complication. Like I said, my friend is a great nurse and I value her opinion, but you may not see the whole picture of a nurse as her coworker, there is always another side to the story.

Best of luck with this difficult situation.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

We had a nurse in her 70's who worked nights. A wonderful, caring person who would do anything for her patients, and never a harsh word for anyone

She was kinda slow moving, had trouble getting out on time, and had to work really hard to get it right on the computer.

But she was a very good nurse, well respected by her colleagues.

[llg, PhD, RN]

We had a nurse in her 70's who worked nights. A wonderful, caring person who would do anything for her patients, and never a harsh word for anyone

She was kinda slow moving, had trouble getting out on time, and had to work really hard to get it right on the computer.

But she was a very good nurse, well respected by her colleagues.

But the question is: What if she were NOT a good nurse anymore? What if she were a danger to her patients? How would you and your colleagues have handled it?

[LisalaRN99, BSN, RN]

There are soooo many great quotes from the OP as well as others, but I'll just make my comments and go...

First of all, I had to read this thread to see just how old this "elderly" nurse was! I am part of the aging Baby Boomer generation of nurses that are still providing direct patient care, albeit, I'm in psych now.

What I know to be true is that there are now 3 generations working in healthcare at the same time, and have their own work ethic. We have our Baby Boomers, Millenials, and Generation X'ers. Read for yourselves the management articles regarding these groups working together....I won't bore you with the details, but it is enlightening.

The other thing I've noticed in my 15 yrs as a nurse (yes, I was a second-career nurse starting in my 40's), is that many of the new grads coming out are determined to spend as little time as possible at the bedside! Everyone wants to be a Nurse practitioner or Nurse Administrator. Nobody seems to want to come up through the ranks anymore.

I also worry about "Grandma Nurse" and why she is still choosing to work on a busy Cardiac floor when she apparently lacks some of the skills she needs to perform her job. Being a single woman without children (not that you can depend on adult children caring for their elderly relatives anymore!) I, too, will be working into my 70's due to lack of good financial planning and divorce in my carefree youth. Hint! Hint! A word to the wise younger nurses out there should be sufficient! So try to be nicer to your elderly coworker. Stop assuming Management just wants a warm body! Take issues to the Charge Nurse and stop cracking jokes about her. It is bullying and ageism (look it up!), and lateral violence. Look all that up too, if you don't know what these things mean to you in the work place.

And plan your future well, before the bloom is off your rose!

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

Have you all brought your concerns up with management?

My guess is that management already knows. How could they not and they should be ashamed of themselves for putting other nurses in the role of babysitter an putting patient's lives in danger. Has this older nurse ever heard of RETIREMENT?

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

You post on a public web site you invite responses.

It may not be what you want to hear in reply.

What you write might not be heard right.

You get what you get. You put it out there and you own it.

The true character is how you deal with it.

The few things I have learned from this board includes: drive by replies, pigeon holing a group, playing the age/race/sex/religion angle, or crying victim in the responses to my postings will likely come back to bite you in the buttocks.

You started the thread OP but it is no longer yours.

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

If your concerns as voiced in this post are true, then yes, there are performance issues that need to be addressed with this nurse.

However, I'm sure her performance issues--not to mention anxiety level--aren't aided any by the intentional deaf ear turned to her by all on your ward, per your story. She probably feels very alienated and alone and she should feel that way! If my coworkers thought I was a pest or a nuisance to be passed off to someone else when I was new, I'd never have become the professional I am now, and while this nurse isn't new, the technology is, and she deserves as much help as the new grad learning the trade.

OCNRN63 is entirely correct--NETY is an issue that is focused on more often than not in nursing. But the badgering and forced retirement of older staff is an issue entirely overlooked nowadays, and that is sad, because the older nurses bring extensive knowledge and skill to a profession that desperately needs both.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

I understand the OP was "venting" but wow! That poor nurse, suffering through working with such an unforgiving group. One of the major issues seems to be her [the "old" nurse] lack of computer skills. We too just switched to a new computer system, and several nurses are having real difficulties...none of which are age related. Why OP would you just assume that because this nurse is older that is the only reason she isn't getting it? Not everybody quickly embraces new technology.

[decembergrad2011, BSN, RN]

God forbid anyone express concern over the care that the patients on their floor receive. I have no idea why it's acceptable to point out the flaws in a new grad's patient care and not an older nurse. I don't care if you've been on the floor for 20 minutes or 20 years. Your care is what is the important thing. I am going to say something to an older nurse if I catch a mistake just the same as a new grad. And per management, I am supposed to file an incident report if I find something that could have resulted in even an unsafe condition, but these reports are sometimes used to hurt someone's career and it takes a major lack of judgment for me to actually file anything.

Anyway, that being said, we do have older nurses on our floor. One of them simply cannot retire - she is unmarried and relies on her income to pay for her living expenses. Considering that she picks up overtime every week, I'm sure that retirement would be stressful and she's putting it off until she absolutely has to do it. It's common knowledge that she has problems with the charting system, and not because anyone is gossiping about her. It just happens often enough that people know about it. This is a minor issue for us in the grand scheme of things, but there was one day when I followed after her and found that NOTHING, not even a basic RN assessment at the beginning of shift, was charted on my patient during her shift. I was flabbergasted because I'd never seen that before. Sure, people miss things, but to go an entire 12 hours and not chart a stitch? She also doesn't clear her pumps and just puts whatever the flow rate is for each hour in the computer, which then throws my I&O accuracy off because I have no idea how much of what I'm clearing when I get into the room has already been accounted for in her charting. I've had to help her put in orders and find where to chart things in the computer, and I'm very patient with her, as she has been patient with me showing me how to do nursing skills in the past. This RN is otherwise a fantastic nurse - the technology is her Achilles' heel. If she started developing unsafe care practices, I would be very concerned and also attribute it to her aging since she has worked at the facility for decades without problem.

The jabs at her appearance and age are uncalled for, but that's not the meat of this post. There's a real concern that the OP is expressing, and I think she has a right to her feelings when it comes to patient safety.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

So far there have been 22 posts on this thread and a vast majority of them have chosen to bash the OP instead of providing a solution for a co-worker who is unable to retire due to financial reasons, but also has problems doing her charting in the 21 century. I don't know the size and organization of your hospital, but try going to management to see if there is another position in the hospital that she can utilize her vast nursing knowledge that doesn't require extensive, time critical computer entry.