age discrimination

I have a relative that retires this year who has not received a raise in 8 years, even though on the pay scale, she is not "capped".

She has worked almost 40 years at the same hospital. Their raionale? She is making more than any nurse there, therefore, doesn't need a raise.

However, they are failing to recognize she has seniority over the NEXT person, by 17 years.

To me, if you have put your time in, you deserve it.

We newbies need you nurses who have been around.

I recently asked my nurse manager, "Why does our facility dislike older nurses?"

Her response: "Older nurses are difficult to deal with. They're stuck in their ways, and are always too busy arguing. Newer nurses are easier for us to work with."

Does age discrimination exist in the nursing workforce? Heck, yes! And it is the incorrect thing to do.

Considering that many of our new grads are not newbies to the workforce and are also not young, IMO this is an unfair, untrue stereotype. But I agree, it does exist. Our salaries tend to flatten out the longer we're with an employer and then they wonder why they can't keep experienced nurses.

Yep - been there done that. I had an asst. NM make numerous private phone calls to warn me. Apparently I was too outspoken about the understaffing, the lack of ancillary support, blah blah blah. She let me know that the facility did not want nurses with more than 10 years experience because they cost more. They also were not controlled as easily as a newbie. The newbies are still out to save the world or are trying to pay off their student loans so they are less likely to do things like show up at a demonstration rally.

That's where you use all the documentation skills you have learned to write a novel about all the things you see and hear. It is amazing the dirt you can get on employers after even a few months of noting things like who left, who came, rumors that are heard. After you look through your journal you can put two and two together quite easily and then have an excellent case to CYA if they try anything.

"Older nurses are difficult to deal with. They're stuck in their ways, and are always too busy arguing. Newer nurses are easier for us to work with."

Difficult to deal with? Your nurse manager has a lot to learn!

As far as I'm concerned, the more years of practice a nurse has, the better. I have a tremendous amount of respect for my colleagues with 20 or 30 years of practice.

I used to work with a nurse who had been around forever - I don't think anyone really knew how long she'd been a nurse. She was a little grumpy at times, but I admired her and watched her closely because I knew I could learn from her. I'm not sure she really knew how much I respected her.

I was sad when she retired, my eyes still well up with tears when I think about her leaving nursing. It was an honor to work with her.

I never got a chance to say goodbye to her, but I wrote my feelings about her in a card and my manager agreed to make sure she got it.

IMO, nurses with 20+ years of practice are the treasures of our profession!

yes. a hospital in chattanooga terminated tons of older nurse, nurses that were pregnant or ill. the smart nurses not affected by the lay-off, quickly looked for jobs elsewhere, after experiencing disloyalty by the administration. the hospital has not recovered after 15 years...but the marble floor looks great after the patient valay parks their car.

Older nurses are more difficult to deal with because they have been around a while and know the ropes a little. They do not accept it is done this because administration says so. Older nurses work as hard or harder than younger nurses most days, not because we are slow, but because we fix the problems other, less experienced nurses create. That is not a put down for younger nurses, everyone has to learn. Not a day that I work do I not get many, many requests to help with some problem, read this order, what does this doc want, and so forth. I still have to do my work and assist them. I do it because older nurses helped me.

Hey Smith,

was this an HCA facility? HCA lied and laid off nurses here at 2 different facilities years ago and it is still remembered.