Where are all the "older" nurses?

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I'm a new nursing student. 2nd career. I'm 48. I've been doing a lot of student shadowing at my local hospital in the different departments lately and its been amazing! Everything from NICU to Cardiac Cath lab the whole gambit. One trend is a lot of 20 something early 30 something nurses. Both male and female. Primarily female. All very professional and knowledgeable. What happens to the 40 to 70 year olds? They make so much money they retire early? haha really?

I've been a nurse since age 23, and now at 58 I don't see retirement in my near future...but not by choice! My back was injured yrs ago off the job, and the job doesn't help it now. I have been through the most wonderful bedside and clinic jobs, with wonderful co-workers, to the most horrifying workplace bullying which made me cry and leave the job after 2 yrs! The great jobs I got "downsized" from before they closed. The bad ones made me want to leave nursing altogether! Age discrimination has hit me, too....having once had another nurse tell me she thought I couldn't do the job because of my age! (I was acing my exams!) The only thing I can tell you is that you may need an exit plan for when things get to be too much for you physically or because of the stress. Employers are demanding more from us all the time with fewer resources to help us. Burnout among us older nurses is REAL. Many leave due to stress, and I wish I could leave now, but will be dragging it out by staying part-time instead. The last thing I would like to say is that there are many good nurses out there with lots of knowledge to share, but many do not choose to share wisdom. They choose to bully, love drama, and drive good people to leave jobs they have dreamt of doing forever! Lack of confidence means lack of experience only! BE the nurse that takes a "newbie" under your wing and mentors, SEE the nurse having a hard time with co-workers and do NOT ignore it! Befriend, mentor, share knowledge, and realize how many lives you will touch through HER in the future! Even the new "older" employee may have some knowledge to impart in turn! God bless!

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Specializes in Med/Surg; Women's Health.

I'm an older nurse as well at age 43. I work in the med/surg float pool and I love it. Yes, the pushing and pulling can be a bit much, but I always take someone in with me to help with a boost or turn. Even when I was younger, starting out, I always used the functions on the bed to raise my patient's height to save my back. Good luck to you!!

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As an older nurse I still work full time in a Native American Clinic and do every thing from blood draws, patient care and diabetic education. Most hospitals encourage retirement because we just cost them too much in salary and benefits. I worked 30 years in Neuro Trauma ICU, and ER's and miss the adrenaline rush with each new challenge. I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to still work full time and enjoy seeing new patients every day. I am 71 1/2 and plan to continue until I just can't do it any more. One perk of being able to still work is getting paid a good salary and getting Social Security check at the same time.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Parish Nurse, Hospice.

60 year old nurse here with almost 40 yrs of experience. I did bedside nursing until 3 years ago when I took a leap of faith and changed jobs. At the point of my change, I was very tired and worn out. I felt that I gave great care to my patients and did enjoy direct patient care. Times were changing, my idea of good nursing care and what I was expected to do weren't the same thing. In another light, I had worked many weekends and holidays during my career. As newer staff came in, comments would be made like I can't possibly work Christmas. The job is a 7 day per week, 24 hour per day situation. Tell your kids that Santa comes when mom says he does. That is what I did and my kids survived.

If we look back at how nursing care has changed over the past 40 years we will see one reason that many older nurses are in bad shape. Before the day of numerous lifts, everybody got out of bed one way or another. It might take lots of strong backs, but they got of bed. Many changes have been developed to make things a little easier on the nurse.

I do have several friends that continue to work well in their 60's. Most are counting the days until retirement.

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I love this thread. It gives me hope as I will be 40-42 when I become a new RN.

However, what bothers me is the fact that in no profession is there any kind of job security. We are all at risk, even those of us who take on jobs that are in high growth and shortage areas. This makes me think guaranteed income will become a thing but I digress. Good luck older nurses and happy holidays everyone.

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I don't know "Where are all the 'older' nurses?" but I sure as hell hope those well deserving ladies and gents have their feet elevated atop the comfiest pillow between whatever work they choose to/have to do and get the chance to relax. Nursing is exhausting, I hope those who've had a long tenure have the chance/ability for (adequate) rest and self-care. So much respect for anyone who can do this job for decades. What we do is not for the faint of heart, not for those who are "pliable", those with loose ethics, those who don't have a deep and sincere love for humanity and seeing the world be well.

In my bedside job (I have 3 jobs FYI), I work alongside nurses whose ages range from 29-yrs through 73-yrs old... despite their varied ages they are ALL effing tired. I hope they all have someone in their life who loves them enough to draw them a bath after their long, exhausting shifts or on the weekend, do something simple and kind to help them feel special/loved and decompress from the difficult work we all do. Let's be flipping honest here, bedside is physically challenging and demanding... it's realistically more demanding on those of advanced age. If they have the opportunity to transition into a teaching position, I sincerely hope they have the chance to get off their damn feet. Stop the glorification of nurses pushing their bodies to extreme limits.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays everyone. Hope you and yours are well.

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I'm 60+, former L & D, now teach nursing school OB, but still call myself a L & D nurse. Many of my co-workers, 50 to 60 are still there but in charge positions so not the physical stuff. Lots of younger nurses filling in the ranks. I have the knowledge but many of the new staff want to learn it on their own and not question me. I delivered a breech lady partslly once. Woman came in active labor, 2 legs out her lady parts. In the 70's all breeches were lady partsl, I watched and learned along with the OB interns. Had a healthy baby in a few minutes, none of the nurses thought it was possible.

The stress on the joints, running down the hall pushing a bed to the OR for crash C-birth, yes so much easier just teaching the students how to swaddle a baby so they can teach new parents.

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...The stress on the joints, running down the hall pushing a bed to the OR for crash C-birth, yes so much easier just teaching the students how to swaddle a baby so they can teach new parents.

EXACTLY! The OP is self-described "a new nursing student" he/she has no G-D clue what's really entailed in performing the job of a licensed nurse... when you are all alone, responsible for a full workload, huge stack of charts full of patients with a million co-morbidity and nervous families (all itching to try to sue for the most insignificant things...ex. nurse in question saved our father from MI but forgot the warm blanket, etc.), reliant on no one but yourself... no one to guide you with your shiny new license. Pretty presumptuous to ask, why aren't more older nurses doing bedside when you don't have real experience and pressures of doing this day-in-day-out (esp. with management breathing down your neck).

Clinical placements are NOT real nursing experience, no matter how you try and sell it... it's not the damn same!!! Have the humility and self-awareness to realize this :facepalm:.

Short answer to the OPs question would be this:

-They're gone B/C they're effing tired, that's why.

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For what its worth, as a patient I prefer older nurses. They have an emotional maturity that not all twenty somethings have.

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For what its worth, as a patient I prefer older nurses. They have an emotional maturity that not all twenty somethings have.

Interesting perspective, but in reality not true and it's ageist... maturity (emotional, psychological, etc...) is generally learned rather than instinctive; and not something that automatically correlates with age. I always suggest others to be cautious when attempting to set an alleged proxy for maturity/competence (ex. chronological age).

I'm sure many people on this forum can lend stories of experience with nurses (younger and older) who demonstrated immaturity. Whenever I encounter an older nurse who demonstrates immature behaviour, I even find myself to be shocked because I too sometimes harbor the false belief that because someone is older that automatically they will be more mature and professional... which is obviously not true. It's a good reflective practice moment to manage our expectations of others, and evaluate/examine our individual beliefs-systems ;).

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My current job is at an allergy clinic (first nursing job) and 90% of my coworkers are all 60+. It does have the reg 8hr day shifts M-F, which I know fits their preferences since they've been in hospital for many years previously. I find the hours great but will eventually move onto bedside care in the future.

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Where I work, we have a really nice supervisor/charge nurse that is older. She is ready to quit but unfortunately she has a mortgage to pay. The twenty-somethings bully her to death just because she is older. It has been reported to management but nothing happens. She is so stressed out. So if you are wondering where the older nurses are, they probably get fed-up and quit.

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