Age Discrimination in Nursing? How Old is "Too Old?"

Nurses General Nursing

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OMG, yes how about some of the nurses who are like 80 and should have retired 20 years ago, not taking anything away from anyone, but really ok, there is a time when we must hang it up. This one nurse would either forget to give a med, give too much or too little of a med, the Narc count is always off, and she could somehow remember that she gave it and what time but could never remember to write it down???????

SCARY!

That comment illustrates age discrimination! For your information, retirement age is 65, and may be extended to 70, since people age better these days. Granted, "senior" moments occur seldom to frequently as we age, which could be the case with "some of the nurses" you mentioned. However, in the 49 years since I graduated (do the math), I haven't met another nurse practising at 80 years of age.

Incidently my son thinks that mandatory death sentences should occur after 65 (what did I do to deserve that? He's his father's son!).

In all occupations, it would be great if retirement planning was recommended, but for most it's not financially possible in this country wherein pensions in the hands of employers went south years ago (as has health insurance).

Other countries' governments handle that very efficiently, just as health care is, elsewhere. Here our fear of government mismanagement and higher taxes has prevented oldtimers from surviving with self esteem intact. Pity!

Our only satisfaction lies in the realization that most young people in society are eventually going to age too, and will find yourselves in our shoes, eventually. :chuckle

Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.

"Too old" is when the patient has to slide over in bed to give the nurse room to rest.

"Too old" is when the nurse can't remember WHY she went into the patient's room. Oh, wait...I DO THAT. Scratch that one! :D

In NZL we don't legally have a retirement age as that's considered a breech of the human rights treaties and acts, both in the UN and in our own country. Its usually up to the worker and their employer when they decide to go, but the employer can get in the poop if they fire someone or "encourage" someone to leave at a certain age.

Anyway, there's a lecturer at my old school who's done 50 years in Nursing last year. She still practices, she still lecturers and she's an amazing woman who I respect a great deal - she's also a good friend of my family!

The way I look at it, if you can still do the job at 80 then so be it! And why not? I met a woman who was 96 who worked in a busy resturant (RSA - Returned Services Association) and she was pretty on to it. But a new boss moved in and made her life a misery so in the end she was forced to resign. Within a week of leaving her job she died - basically, she had nothing else to get her out of bed in the morning so just gave in.

However, I do have issues with scholarships given to much older people. There was a woman in my class who was 65 when she started (and she was actually a frighteningly dangerous individual) She had a mental illness and didn't take her meds for it so she was always all over the place and I"d witnessed dangerous care on her part patients who could ill afford it. She'd be 68 when she finished. My issue is she got money from the govt by way of study benefit and scholarships. She had left school when she was 14 and had no formal pieces of paper. Now she got a poop load of money and I had to consider where was the logic in giving a woman who would probably end up struck off the reigster in a few years all this money and young people, like myself and others in my class, who stuck it out, did the whole nine yards, and we have to get huge student loans to pay our way?

As it was, after she left school she wasn't able to get a job in any hospitals or self respecting facilities, and last I heard she's working in a real dodgey rest home.

Essentialy - doesn't mattter about age, only about capability to do the job. I'm not a big fan of giving such older people scholarships and benefits when 20 year olds who have a job path of a good 50 years are finanically crippled at day one!

Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

I can't imagine that I wont ever work. No matter how old I am if I can physically do it and my mind is still sharp, I intend to work as long as I can.

Specializes in Hospice.

Essentialy - doesn't mattter about age, only about capability to do the job. I'm not a big fan of giving such older people scholarships and benefits when 20 year olds who have a job path of a good 50 years are finanically crippled at day one!

From the information you've given here, seems like this person's issues had more to do with her mental illness and work ethic ... what's her age got to do with it.

I'm not sure I agree with you about scholarships, either. True, a younger person might have a longer career to be financed ... but the older person has already worked and contributed to society, why shouldn't she get some benefit? Two sides to the story ...

Specializes in Med Surg, LTC, Home Health.
However, I do have issues with scholarships given to much older people....I had to consider where was the logic in giving a woman who would probably end up struck off the reigster in a few years all this money and young people, like myself and others in my class, who stuck it out, did the whole nine yards, and we have to get huge student loans to pay our way? I'm not a big fan of giving such older people scholarships and benefits when 20 year olds who have a job path of a good 50 years are finanically crippled at day one!

Of course i must agree with Heron on this issue. You say that the young people are more worth scholarships because they will have 50 years to do the job, but what about those that quit nursing after a year, or five years? With this logic, one would assume that these "young" nurses should have to pay back their scholarships if they dont stay in the field for more than a few years, because if they didnt, then they may as well have been an older student who didnt deserve the scholarship in the first place. It is a slippery slope of flawed logic. :)

Just an article in the local paper today about a local nurse who is 82 working four 8 hr 11-7 shifts in the ER per week. No one stated that she was anything but a wonderful nurse. With the economy tanking and 40% reduction in my retirement account this year and the end no where in sight there is no way it will soon be what it was. With people living to be 100, what are they supposed to live on if they don't work as long as possible? Don't like to think about it but the reality is that many of us will have to work until we are no longer able to drag ourselves around.

Specializes in ICU, Education.

Wow,

I honestly have not seen job performance based on merit in the nursing profession since possibly a job I held in 1994. I've worked with those that even say more was expected of them while working in a pawn shop than in an ICU--and I believe it (can't say this myself because I have worked only in the nursing profession for 24 years). It has also been my experience that performance means little in the nursing profession. I know it is pessimistic, but it is my honest view point. There are few expectations of nurses these days (I don't mean written expectations, but actual live, audited, and enforced expectations). Yes we are supposed to do thus and thus.... but there is no reward or punishment when thus and thus is or is not done.

Unfortunately for me, despite the lack of external reward or punishment I have an internal drive to do the best that I can at whatever I take on (funny... this is characteristic of Babyboomers and older generations... not generation X or Y....). But far be it from me to stereotype.

Be careful of sterotyping....

Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.

It appears as though exercise plus plastic surgery is the fountain of youth and (some) of the 50 something crowd these days look to be 30-40 yrs old, so with more people taking care of themselves with regular excerise and plastic surgery,

age 70 may be the new 50. Just saying.

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Oh, I don't know why, but I have hopes for Generations X, Y, and so on. Let's face it: if we Boomers will just look back to our own salad days, WE did our share of slacking and partying too. We may not have lived with our parents until our mid-20s or still been content to flip burgers at Mickey D's in our mid-30s, but we took our sweet time about growing up..........and even now, we're having to be dragged kicking and screaming into old age. We aren't growing old gracefully, we're fighting it tooth and nails, and we are NOT going gently into that good night. So what if it takes the younger generations a little more time to develop a work ethic---we aren't exactly stepping aside to make room for them, now are we?

'Nuff said about the generation gap.:wink2:

Specializes in ICU, Education.
Oh, I don't know why, but I have hopes for Generations X, Y, and so on. Let's face it: if we Boomers will just look back to our own salad days, WE did our share of slacking and partying too. We may not have lived with our parents until our mid-20s or still been content to flip burgers at Mickey D's in our mid-30s, but we took our sweet time about growing up..........and even now, we're having to be dragged kicking and screaming into old age. We aren't growing old gracefully, we're fighting it tooth and nails, and we are NOT going gently into that good night. So what if it takes the younger generations a little more time to develop a work ethic---we aren't exactly stepping aside to make room for them, now are we?

'Nuff said about the generation gap.:wink2:

I haven't lost hope about generation X&Y.... but this post was about them giving up on us. And you are generalizing if you speak of all of my generation living like you did. I did not slack. I was bussing tables from age 15 until completing nursing school at age 20 and then I took a full time job nursing. Little time for fun, and perhaps that is why some think i am so serious and black and white about so many issues. I have worked for everything and earned everything I have, and still find my struggles and hard work mean little, while often those that expect stuff to be handed to them, get stuff handed to them. I can deal with all of it until they start to say I am hindering their profession.

It appears as though exercise plus plastic surgery is the fountain of youth and (some) of the 50 something crowd these days look to be 30-40 yrs old, so with more people taking care of themselves with regular excerise and plastic surgery,

age 70 may be the new 50. Just saying.

:banghead:

Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.

How about that new drug derived from 1,000 glasses of red wine?

"60 minutes" did a portion of the program on it, and that seems to be the "fountain of youth", health, capability, and - oh yes, a gentle death during one's sleep when over 100........

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