Retirement in the nursing field.

Nursing Students Student Assist

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There is an issue going on at health care facilities about nurses who are still working as nurses well into their 60's and 70's. Assuming everyone ages differently, consider the effects of aging (such as decrease in vision, hearing, unsteady gait, ect.) do you think they put their patients and themselves at risk for injury? If so do you think there should be a mandatory retirement age for nurses?

Hahaha oopS!

Maybe OP wanted to write an essay about it for school. I'll assume she meant that an aging nurse population isn't a problem so much as it is an "issue" in the sense that it's a recognizable trend.

I, for one, am grateful that they're sticking around. I'll take a deaf, blind RN with 40+ years of experience over a new grad any day!

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I don't think it will really big a big problem if they work on their 60's or 70's!They are already wise enough to thik of their patient's welfare anyway, being nurses for so many years! Another thing is, there are a lot of fields in nursing which does not really require physical strength

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Specializes in CC, MS, ED, Clinical Research.

If facilities kept appropriate staff levels and equipment (lift equipment) aging wouldn't be an issue.

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I think it's a veiled, "Old nurses need to retire so new grads can get jobs."

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Hahaha oopS!

Maybe OP wanted to write an essay about it for school. I'll assume she meant that an aging nurse population isn't a problem so much as it is an "issue" in the sense that it's a recognizable trend.

I, for one, am grateful that they're sticking around. I'll take a deaf, blind RN with 40+ years of experience over a new grad any day!

I don't know about that. I followed an experienced nurse with 32 years on-the-job who was not very proficient with computers and didn't see the Sepsis Alert notification form because she says she's "old school" and doesn't use the computer much. The patient ended up being transfered to ICU with a bp of 64/22 at shift change.

Not saying that all experienced nurses are like that though.

I think that we need to look at the individual for how well they are doing their job and not how much experience they have or how old they are. Experience and/or age don't necessarily correlate with competence.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
There is an issue going on at health care facilities about nurses who are still working as nurses well into their 60's and 70's. Assuming everyone ages differently, consider the effects of aging (such as decrease in vision, hearing, unsteady gait, ect.) do you think they put their patients and themselves at risk for injury? If so do you think there should be a mandatory retirement age for nurses?
Welcome to AN!

This sounds like a school assignment.

We are happy to help with homework but we will not do it for you....what do you think about this? Start the dialog and we will be happy to help.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I don't know about that. I followed an experienced nurse with 32 years on-the-job who was not very proficient with computers and didn't see the Sepsis Alert notification form because she says she's "old school" and doesn't use the computer much. The patient ended up being transferred to ICU with a bp of 64/22 at shift change.

Not saying that all experienced nurses are like that though.

I think that we need to look at the individual for how well they are doing their job and not how much experience they have or how old they are. Experience and/or age don't necessarily correlate with competence.

So....you believe that the nurse not going on the computer and seeing an alert caused the patient to get sepsis?

That just isn't the case. Not seeing a form did not cause that patients sepsis. I agree that age doesn't assure competence...nor does years in the profession guarantee competence.

If hospitals had real pension plans you might find more nurses willing to retire. With the bad economy they can't retire. I have 34 years in the profession. I have been a nurse since I was 18 years old. I am computer literate and have extensive experience. If you are not in my age bracket it is easy to say make them retire......but there are many nurses like me who maybe over 50 but have teenagers.

Agesim exists in nursing already it just isn't talked about.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I think it's a veiled, "Old nurses need to retire so new grads can get jobs."
Not very veiled....I think it's homework
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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Not very veiled....I think it's homework
If it IS homework, I'd be very curious as to the context of the assignment....

"Now class, let's discuss the ongoing issue of the old bags who refuse to die. Should they be euthanized?" ;) ;)

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Welcome to AN.com! You sure picked a great subject for your first post ;)

This is SOOOO homework. Students just do not get that we can sniff those out a mile away, mostly because no student writes like that. This is a faculty-composed bit o' work. Except for the "ect.," which means "electroconvulsive therapy," which is what I need after seeing it so often. :)

Note to OP: Asking a lot of anonymous people on an internet message board for opinions does not constitute "research," and your faculty will SOOOO not appreciate it when they find out that's what you did on this.

Hints: Library. Nursing periodicals. Information on aging in other professions. :twocents:

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

I think the mandatory retirement age for nurses should be 50 since that is the age I am currently.

And their retirement pension should be funded by the the young nurses just starting out.

Get it done ASAP please OP.

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@Mom To 4. Maybe her age was a factor, but the acuity in nursing has increased so much in the past 10 years, that some have a hard time to follow. She probably wanted to change career until she had a decent retirement package but wasn't able to because of her age, no one would give her chance. Also, mentioning her age is not fair. Many a time, floors are too busy regarding acuity and nurse-patients ratio but administration disregards this fact. Nurses get burned out and patient-care suffers. She should have been allowed to move on to a less active role but again...The main fact that all need to keep in mind is that with the shortage of nursing that we have, young or old nurses, whether it's by age or experience are needed and certainly should be evaluated because of what they do on the floor not their age.

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