7.5% Male; 4 % Fem new nurses dropped out of nursing within four years of graduation - page 3

[NEW] Finish the Toon Caption Contest! Win $100.

forwarded by psna listserve. joanne laviglio from the associated press would like to interview a male, registered nurse working in a hospital setting today regarding the just released university... Read More

Sep 8, '02
Occupation: Patient Education Specialty: 7 year(s) of experience in LDRP; Education ; Joined: Mar '01; Posts: 7,470; Likes: 56

Renee,
Sure, not all Boomers are this way, just as all GenXers are not lazy MTV-addicted freaks. But, the generalizations of each generation was brought up, and so I laid mine on the table.

No, actually, I wasn't a latch-key child at all. Before my father became a drunk, we were quite wealthy and my mom was a stay at home mom. She didn't fit the love-sex-drugs-rockandroll lifestyle that her generation fell in to. She planned to have children, and didn't have us simply because of her indiscretions at Woodstock.

But, when the issue of work ethics comes up between the GenXers and the Boomers, it typically is because of what each generation values. No, GenXers aren't loyal to any organization, unless it is warranted, but Boomers seem to be - and for what??

There was an article in AJN a while back about the generation gap and it demonstrated how a Boomer and a GenXer were discussing a staffing need. The Boomer asked the GenXer if she could work on her day off, because they were short. The GenXer said "NO." The Boomer replied: "but the unit really needs you, kiddo." and the GenXer replied: "it is my day OFF. I have a family, I have a picnic to go to, no, I just want to sleep." and the Boomer looked at this as laziness. The GenXer then asked the Boomer why SHE was working on HER day off, and the Boomer replied: "the unit needs me."

That conversation sums it all up. It's not about work ethic, it's about taking care of oneself FIRST.
Sep 8, '02
Occupation: E.R. Nurse Joined: Aug '02; Posts: 190; Likes: 1

Im an R.N. For a total of a whole whopping year! E.R... started in the E.R. as a new grad.. Have been repeatedly assigned to level 1 night after night 96% percent of the past year for 12 hours no rotation and 75 % of those nighs with no 30 minute lunch break... I love helping people.. I am loyal to my job..I do not call in. I do not complain.. about assignments..or patients.. I have given IT a year to see what i would feel like ..well how bout 900yrs old??? :roll . I come in for overtime assignments to help out with our staffing shortage..etc.etc. You know what makes me think of quitting,...running far far from this?...Th eungrateful people, the patients who stab you in the back when you literally kill yourself saving theirlife... the constant threat of litigation, the mean old nurses who hate their job and you ( the knew). IM not even male....If I were you can bet I probably would have already cut the rug...the new employees who hired on with me ?...18 of them, there are only 5 of us left. OH well its the career I chose...Im hard headed, love a challenge, and hate quiters

Last edit by CMERN on Sep 8, '02
Sep 8, '02
Joined: Jul '00; Posts: 11,351; Likes: 387

Thank you Suzy and AMEN! Work ethic always comes up when some of the more veteran nurses talk about their schooling too and it drives me nuts to hear such ridiculous generalizations which are open to interpretation (self care vs. lazy, etc.).
Sep 8, '02
Occupation: E.R. Nurse Joined: Aug '02; Posts: 190; Likes: 1

oh and cant type. nights.....ungrateful..........quitters. ...oops.
Sep 8, '02
Joined: Sep '01; Posts: 16,606; Likes: 680

My husband and I were eating lunch today at a restaurant that had a good mixture of youth and older adult workers. The couple next to us started talking to us about how...and I quote them "lazy today's generation of kids are"....unquote. The other couple was in their late thirties....my hubby is in his late thirties, and I am fifty. I found the conversation to be quite interesting to say the least. Mostly, it was my hubby and the couple talking back and forth about the "laziness in the youth employees" attitudes and slothfulness on the job.

Now...I have seen LAZY in both young and old restaurant workers.

I have seen LAZY in both young and old nurses....seasoned and unseasoned.

I see and agree that nursing today is rough. It was rough in the early nineties when I was working nursing, too....so I do completely understand the abuse nurses are under now...as they were then before my medical sabbatical began....by the way....I am NOT being paid any $$$ during this time off, either. Don't want anyone to think I'm being "spoonfed" because of my age. :chuckle I remember having 14 patients at a time without an aide to help me on a general med/surg floor back in 1987.

I knew an entirely different environment of families when my children were growing up. For the most part, moms were in the home....but my children also had friends whose moms worked out of necessity, or they were divorced like I eventually became, and had no alternative but to work. Some do not even have the alternative of WHEN they get to work.......but, thank God.....I did because I am a nurse.

Some have the advantage of having a pampered lifestyle...some don't. Some have the advantage of being able to be home with their children....many do not...divorce is a major issue today.

Suzy....fergus....my own three daughters are "GenXers" and they are able to handle motherhood and career quite well because they saw me do it.

Also.....I don't even think I qualify as a 'Baby Boomer' anyway....come to think of it....aren't 'Baby Boomer's' in their mid-fifties and early sixties??? :chuckle

I'm enjoying reading your comments since my daughters are in your generation (26, almost 29, and newly turned 32). I don't mind at all reading the variances you two point out. Afterall, that's why we come to the various forums and read the different topic threads so we can learn something new that we didn't previously know. So...thank you for sharing your viewpoints. I am certainly reading them with an open mind, and taking everything you share into consideration to update my own thinking when necessary. Now, isn't that special....we can get along as long as we keep an open mind about the backgrounds and environments and training in life we each received that makes us the unique individuals we are today.

Last edit by live4today on Sep 8, '02
Sep 8, '02
Joined: Apr '02; Posts: 38,756; Likes: 16,288

Once I had my 2nd baby, I went PRN and DO NOT MISS the FULL TIME BULLCRAP, POLITICS AND MALTREATMENT. I work when I want, how I want, and get paid a hellalot more doing so , than the ave. FTE w/my same experience. Only thing I wish is I did not wait as long as I did to go PRN.....I wish I had never been fulltime, looking back. I guess it served its purpose when I was new out of school and learning the ropes. I did it for two years, saw all the burnout around and saw the light.

I love this way of working. The work is there for me; it's only for me to accept it. I am home all day w/the kids and I ONLY work when dh is home for them at night. Nursing can work to one's advantage if he/she PICKS the situation very carefully and lays it out clearly that he/she will NOT be anyone's whipping boy at the job. I have never enjoyed such flexibility in any other job (yea in the military, right...you want ABUSE????? try that on for size).....

Anyhow, I have only been at it 5 years and I LOVE IT! I hope to be working this way til I am 75!!!!! I hope my body lasts as long as my will does.

Last edit by SmilingBluEyes on Sep 8, '02
Sep 8, '02
Occupation: RN - College Health Specialty: Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health ; Joined: Jun '02; Posts: 6,584; Likes: 70

Suzy - you ROCK!

I repeatedly refuse to do more than my 40 per week. I don't even have kids, but that doesn't mean I don't have a life. When the frequent OT call comes in, those who have munchkins to pick up at day care seem to assume that my life choice frees me up to work myself to death. Not gonna do it.

I bust my hump when I am there. I take care of myself so I can take care of my patients. And as much as I usually love my job, it does not mean I want to *live* there.

And I fully expect to take sabbaticals during my nursing career. This is no longer a job you can do year in and year out without burning out.
Sep 8, '02
Joined: Dec '01; Posts: 2,865; Likes: 15

lazy , like stupid , can be found in the young, the middle aged and the old.
In nursing I find it repulsive to listen to the nurses on my unit who have "paid their dues" talk about how much worse and harder things were back then. Its like apples and oranges people, you cannot compare the two.
each generation and time frame brings about its own challenges and trials, would I rather be a nurse in the 1950's or now ? tough to say, I wasnt around to experience nursing in the 1950's so I cannot comment. I do think its unfair to generalize the younger generation as being lazy, that we are not goal oriented and the fact that our value system comes into question so often is Puzzling to say the least.
We have nurses that do so much overtime because we are short staffed and the hospital "needs them"
well in my value system the people in my private life deserve my time also, and I give 100% of my effort when I am scheduled at work , which beats the scrub pants off those that consistantly give 50% but do tons of overtime.
There are many reasons to explain the dropout rate of nurses, one that often times isnt considered, probably becuase its not a negative reason or doesnt lay blame on anyone is that maybe just maybe these "dropouts" realized that nursing wasnt for them. We are told , probably daily what A tough profession nursing is and how it isnt for everyone, so why are we shocked when people make the realization that yes infact this nursing gig may not be for them?
the one thing about the youth of today ,myself included in this one, is that we have a voice and are not afraid to use it.
In the past nurses were put in very unsafe situations and often just had to play the role of silent happy caretaker. If we didnt voice our concerns the profession would not be advanced at all. Sometimes we may sound like we are whining and complaining, but a lot of the time we just cant deal with the fact that people are sitting idly by and working in an obviously unsafe situation.
its a shame that people leave the nursing profession after only getting their feet wet in it, but I'm a big believer that intrinsically you know if something isnt for you and will be happier later on for making the change while your sanity was still intact.
Sep 8, '02
Joined: Apr '02; Posts: 38,756; Likes: 16,288

I cannot really fit in the BOOMER generation or the GEN X group. I just cannot personally identify w/either that strongly......I sit in the middle in my late 30s....i see "good" and "bad" in both generations and truly HATE generalizations......I think we will only perpetuate a huge divide and lack of communcation at a time when we NEED to communicate desperately. I see lack of wortk ethic in all generations, even in the so-called Greatest Generation.....I also can say I have learned MUCH from the Gen-X group. It is all in how we perceive each other and if we even really bother to LISTEN!
Sep 8, '02
Joined: Dec '01; Posts: 2,865; Likes: 15

hey I just had the eureka moment that if the stats posted are true
then 92.5% of male nurses and 96% of female nurses DO NOT leave nurses after four years or whatever.....hey thats not bad afterall......
hmmmm cough syrup and tylenol really put a positive spin on things sometimes!
Sep 8, '02
Joined: Sep '01; Posts: 16,606; Likes: 680

Well ladies.......I cannot disagree with one thing any of you have shared from your own personal perspectives. Thanks for being open and willing to look at ALL viewpoints on this subject...as I have...afterall...this is how we learn, right???

We take from each person that which causes us to grow further in our thinking, in our daily walk, and we give back that which we have come to know and appreciate for the growth between us to continue. This is what I truly respect and appreciate about each age, gender, and culture that shares of themselves on the Allnurses forum. For this I say "Thank you!" :kiss

Deb......I agree with you wholeheartedly on the viewpoints you shared.....you too hapeewendy. Thank you both for awaking in me days gone by when I was a mother of three little ones that I protected with my life. I told my first husband that if I could not be a fulltime mother to our children, then he had better find himself another woman because no child of mine was going to be raised by strangers.......and I kept my stand on that one. If he couldn't afford a family, he shouldn't have started one. Some may disgree with me on that note, but that's your own perogative. Thanks for allowing me to share from my perspective as well. Good night all!
Sep 8, '02
Occupation: OR Staff Specialty: O.R., ED, M/S ; From: US ; Joined: Aug '00; Posts: 1,295; Likes: 364

To "thegame", good ideas except the one about making the BSN the only "RN". That is just a bunch of "crap"!!!!! Get off the idea that the only good nurse is one who has a bunch of letters behind their name. I have been a nurse for 25 years and if a MD doesn't know that by now then to hell with them. I am just getting tired of the same old story. Most nurses just need a little backbone and not more paper.Think about it, the only ones who are upset with not making the BSN the entry for nursing are the ones who spent more time in school and don't earn anymore for it. Just my two cents, Mike
Sep 8, '02
Joined: Jul '00; Posts: 11,351; Likes: 387

Not the BSN DEBATE!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

(going to hide now until it blows over)

7.5% Male; 4 % Fem new nurses dropped out of nursing within four years of graduation - page 3

Must Read Topics