I work with a 78 year old RN. She's been an RN for about 58 years. While I was amazed at first, I really wonder how safe this is. I followed her once and found she hung the wrong IV bag on a patient. Fortunately it was very close, but still it was an error. I have a feeling, she gets the easier patients, but still I question safety. I've heard she has done other things involving other nurses. I'm all for people working and not completely retiring, but working in such a demanding job as a nurse you really need to be on your toes.....
I just had a patient crash on me. Fortunately I caught him in time and turned him around. Well he was in the same room as the a patient the nurse above had. My patient was coming around to the point he called me via his call bell. I went in quick to make sure he wasn't in need of anything. He said he was fine, but said "that lady just fell." It was the RN above. She brushed it off, but said her knee hurt a bit, but she'd be fine. I was thrilled my patient was able to take care of us as he could have gone the other way!!!
Anyway, I let the charge nurse know she had fallen, but was okay for the moment, but thought a heads up wouldn't hurt as we were already short. Well, I didn't realize it was such an issue. She had to fill out forms, go to the ED and was ready to kill me. I've never been looked at in such an evil way in my entire life. My husband said she was just mad because at her age she probably wants to appear trouble-free. This is making her look less than perfect. I suppose he's right, but should I have kept my mouth shut? It seems like you can't win. I'm sure my patient mentioned it to others and then I would've been asked why I DIDN'T say tell them. I really thought it wouldn't hurtl anyone to know and just give her a bit more help when possible if her knee started hurting more during the rest of the shift.
Do you think it's safe to have RNs nearly 80 years old working on such a demanding floor? Thanks
Document each an every occurance on an incident report, the same as you would any nurse.
If this nurse can no longer do her job then that needs to be addressed in relation to her doing her job.
Age discrimination is illegal. But unsafe nurses of any age need to have their problems addressed.
So to answer your question
Do you think it's safe to have RNs nearly 80 years old working on such a demanding floor? Thanks
My answer would be that each case needs to be taken into consideration individually, with the primary consideration being "can you safely do this job", with age not really being the primary factor.
We have to face facts here, at that age the body and all it's senses change, and the physical demands of med-surg nursing need to be able to be physically met and considered. No favoritism should be given elderly nurses. But discrimination shouldn't occur either.
So sorry...I could tell you all the complaints from patients of how this nurse repeats herself, not realizing it, issues with others, but that is impossible. I assumed some things we give each other credit for. As I said, when meeting this nurse I was impressed with her and it was after a year that this has happened. We need to give each other some credit for what is being said and not be so confrontational.
Lisa, I haven't really noticed ANY confrontations in any posts; are you being a little "super-sensitive"? Did you expect a little more support for YOU? If, indeed, a nurse, regardless of age, is unable to perform her duties, yes, I agree, it is our RESPONSIBILITY and our DUTY to report this nurse. Failure to do so, if, indeed, a nurse is putting patients at risk, could cost us our license. However, it appears that you just want to make an issue of this nurses age. The question is, are her patients at risk? Are you taking time away from YOUR patients by maybe spending a little too much time worrying about this older RN? Please don't take it so personally, just a little food for thought......
I still think everyone is missing the point. I have known many 90+ year old people who have sharp minds, but that is not the case here. Not every 80 year old has a sharp mind and should be driving let alone nursing!! Surely some can handle this, but many of us question this nurse. Should we all wait until harm is done and then regret it? The case in point is THIS nearly 80 year old nurse who has made many mistakes. It wasn't the fact she fell, but the way she acted after the fall. We've had many nurses hurt their backs, but no one has been upset as this nurse because they had to fill out a form and go to employee health, etc. She acted foolish placing more focus on the situation than needed.
We need to open our minds people!!
Your husband was probably right. At her age, she wants to appear trouble free. She was probably just angry at herself for falling, irritated, scared for her job, etc.
But what is the point in worrying about how she reacted. Is her acting foolish about such a big deal. Are you worried it's a sign of dementia. (We're in trouble because I've seen a lot of nurses act the fool under duress, LOL).
If she gave you a dirty look that was unprofessional and uncalled for, acted unprofessionally, then again, that needs to be documented, reported and dealt with.
The point some of us are trying to make is deal with the individual mistakes, actions, unprofessional behavior, etc. and patient safety first and foremost and set the age issue aside.
The answer to your question about should 78 year olds be allowed to work in nursing. The answer is yes, because age discrimination is illegal.
For patient safety's sake elder nurses should not get any special treatment or consideration. However, the age alone isn't what matters, it's the performance. It does sound like she's missing the mark on a lot of things, no one is denying that. Focus on the things she's doing and not her age.
I think if someone is going to be a nurse at 80, they should be willing and wanting to pass some sort of competency evaluation. I feel that way about drivers over 70, too. Statistically, we decline with age I would not call it age discrimination to assure someone can still do the technical tasks of nursing any more than I would call it that to make sure they have the reflexes to drive a car. I wouldn't just assume she is competent because I have an 80 year old grandma who is. What kind of thinking is that?
In support of the OP, some people just will not retire long past the time they should have. I don't know if this is true in your case.
Because of age discrimination it takes a lot of evidence before someone her age could be fired. We had a CNA that was still working at age 78. She had a heart condition (pacemaker), Bell's palsey, couldn't lift her hand above her shoulders to get any emergency equipment. Charted information on the wrong patient often or did not chart the information at all. Her hands would shake when getting blood (have seen grown men beg to never have her come near them with a needle again), babies heals would be black after healsticks because of being squeezed so hard. It took over a year of documentation and giving her growth plans after growth plans before they could make her retire. Most people on the floor did not now this was occuring until after she left.
Your husband was probably right. At her age, she wants to appear trouble free. She was probably just angry at herself for falling, irritated, scared for her job, etc.
But what is the point in worrying about how she reacted. Is her acting foolish about such a big deal. Are you worried it's a sign of dementia. (We're in trouble because I've seen a lot of nurses act the fool under duress, LOL).
If she gave you a dirty look that was unprofessional and uncalled for, acted unprofessionally, then again, that needs to be documented, reported and dealt with.
The point some of us are trying to make is deal with the individual mistakes, actions, unprofessional behavior, etc. and patient safety first and foremost and set the age issue aside.
The answer to your question about should 78 year olds be allowed to work in nursing. The answer is yes, because age discrimination is illegal.
For patient safety's sake elder nurses should not get any special treatment or consideration. However, the age alone isn't what matters, it's the performance. It does sound like she's missing the mark on a lot of things, no one is denying that. Focus on the things she's doing and not her age.
We all have some agism to work through.
If RN's start getting disciplined for giving dirty looks, OUR HOSPITAL would be completely unmanned...............:trout:
Tweety, BSN, RN
36,297 Posts
Document each an every occurance on an incident report, the same as you would any nurse.
If this nurse can no longer do her job then that needs to be addressed in relation to her doing her job.
Age discrimination is illegal. But unsafe nurses of any age need to have their problems addressed.
So to answer your question
My answer would be that each case needs to be taken into consideration individually, with the primary consideration being "can you safely do this job", with age not really being the primary factor.We have to face facts here, at that age the body and all it's senses change, and the physical demands of med-surg nursing need to be able to be physically met and considered. No favoritism should be given elderly nurses. But discrimination shouldn't occur either.
Good luck.