disturbing observation at the Children's hospital...

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Alright... so my eight year old son has been in the hospital for the past three days after an episode of non responsiveness and seizure. He had never had this happen before and the docs are trying to figure out what happened.

He is in a children's hospital which is attached to a large university teaching hospital.

My son is doing well and so I've had more of a chance to observe what is going on around me. The doctors and nurses here have been wonderful and I can't complain about the care.

But my goodness... I feel OLD being here. I mean, are hospitals these days pretty much only hiring the youngest, prettiest nurses? Seriously... I have seen maybe two nurses who look like they are over 30 and most of the nurses are skinny and blonde.

Look.. yeah I'm old and heavy. And yeah at this point in my career maybe I should be settled into a place and not thinking "gee I like this place I would kinda like to work here".

I think it's just due to yes, I've watched my nursing career go down the toilet mostly and wish I could go back to being that fresh faced young nurse again.

I kinda feel bad for older new nurses who would maybe want to work in a place like this, though.

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I made the very same observation at the hospital where I wanted to seek work at the beginning of my nursing career. I saw nobody, and knew nobody, who got hired there that was not young and easy on the eyes. Something told me that observation was not a coincidence.

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BTW, I hope that your son recovers fully so that you have one less worry.

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Specializes in NICU.

I assume by your avatar that the children's hospital you are referring to is where I work. Believe me there are plenty of us that are not young and blonde.

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Why are you so caught up in looks? I don't care what a nurse looks like as long as they are competent. Just because you are old and heavy doesn't make you a better a nurse.

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

I've got 14 years on you and I didn't really have trouble getting jobs until my mid-50s. And I've never been a skinny Minnie since I had my first child. I think what finished me off was my history of job losses and gaps in my employment history. Don't give up on yourself.....it's too soon to do that. (((HUGS)))

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Everyone in my Utah hospital looks gorgeous too and it's a bit distracting ;)

Patients have actually asked, "do they only hire models here?"

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Just taking a guess but in my experience those large teaching hospitals that appear to staffed by young fresh faced RNs are likely heavy on reputation aka "looks great on my resume" and light on pay. Older, more experienced nurses tend to get tired of that atmosphere aka "low pay". :D

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I have noticed that there are 2 areas that seem to attract the younger crowd: peds and ED. When I take the elevator up to my floor, I pass the peds floor and more than half the elevator gets off and I would have to say that 2/3 are under 30.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I have noticed that there are 2 areas that seem to attract the younger crowd: peds and ED. When I take the elevator up to my floor, I pass the peds floor and more than half the elevator gets off and I would have to say that 2/3 are under 30.

Yep, that has been my experience as well.

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Specializes in PDN; Burn; Phone triage.

Eh. Isn't it like 75% of nurses leave the bedside by 5 years? So the hospitals tend to skew a bit younger on average because most nurses are still first careerers and they don't stay around long. I interviewed for a QI position a few months ago and was the youngest in the room by probably 15 years. I certainly didn't find it alarming. I work in a clinic now and maybe 3/4s of the nurses are over 45 and several have been nurses for longer than I have been alive. (And I am 29. And not attractive, if it makes you feel any better.)

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
(And I am 29. And not attractive, if it makes you feel any better.)

Say it ain't so, based only on your name and feisty posts I pictured you as super cute and kind of funky. :)

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