I keep reading articles about the newer generation of workers, and how they just have a different attitude towards work. Well, I'm getting frustrated and disappointed by some of what I see in my workplace.
I know it's not all young people, and I'm pretty young myself.
But I'm seeing a decline in patient care and lack of interest in nursing excellence by the newer staff where I work.
Socializing with each other seems to be taking precedence over patient care. Goofing off and playing practical jokes is seen as okay. Those who disagree or try to point out when behaviour at work crosses the line of appropriate get rolled eyes, and they act like we are nagging or picking on them.
This past weekend, patients didn't get turned properly, and when we came on for nights, we found a patient who had been admitted seven hours previously still in the dirty sheets from the ED stretcher, with alcohol swabs and an empty muko lubricant packet stuck to his skin. The day shift staff had been playing jokes on each other, squirting with syringes. One of the nurses put muko lubricant on the phone receiver in the Stepdown unit for a joke, and one of the patients family members got a phone call, and was slimed. This was a family member of someone who was a seriously injured trauma patient. I was embarrassed, to be honest. Our patients deserve better.
I told the manager, and she'll talk to the nurses who were on duty at the time. But these are just examples of the behaviour I'm seeing every day at work. A trend to care more about break time and hanging out with co-workers than knuckling down and doing the work. Does anyone else see this happening?
I feel some of our staff really don't understand the concept of professionalism, and that you have to act differently at work than you do when you are out with your friends. Maybe part of it is that their friends essentially ARE their co-workers, so work is just another place they see their friends. But still, how do you explain to people where the line is or even teach that concept if it is new to them without sounding like an old hag?
This doesn't sound like a generational problem, but a management problem.
Where are the charge nurses and the manager while these people are goofing off.
They are goofing off not because they are of another generation, but because they are able to get away with it by management.[/quote
OK...gotta give the management side of this. Some places don't have charge nurses, but may have a house super who can't possibly be on all the units at the same time. The Director/Manager may be there 8-10 hours of the day, but can't work 24/7 to keep an eye on things. Many Directors/Managers are being increasingly stretched thin and have to cover more than one unit, so they can't always be physically present to be the "mom" to these adult, college-educated professionals. And someone mentioned reporting it to the manager, but not mentioning names- makes it hard to discipline anyone. Plus, you have to try to figure out whether the accusation is real or someone is lying and trying to get someone else in trouble (which happens quite frequently among these "adults"). When a manager/director is there, the Hawthorne principal kicks in and everyone behaves. So I don't think you can completely blame management, unless it happens to be a place where there is a manager present at all times, which is becoming more unusual as management jobs are eliminated in downsizing/restructuring/reorganization, and as the span of control for Directors/Managers increases (hard to keep an eye on 60-100 people). So it's tough to follow-up on complaints like "nights is always sleeping", "afternoons is always fooling around", "days is mean to us", etc. And Directors/Managers do have responsibilities that may take them away from the unit for periods of time. I expect to get a response like "that's not the staff's problem", but this is the reality of it.
I keep reading articles about the newer generation of workers, and how they just have a different attitude towards work. Well, I'm getting frustrated and disappointed by some of what I see in my workplace.
I know it's not all young people, and I'm pretty young myself.
But I'm seeing a decline in patient care and lack of interest in nursing excellence by the newer staff where I work.
Socializing with each other seems to be taking precedence over patient care. Goofing off and playing practical jokes is seen as okay. Those who disagree or try to point out when behaviour at work crosses the line of appropriate get rolled eyes, and they act like we are nagging or picking on them.
This past weekend, patients didn't get turned properly, and when we came on for nights, we found a patient who had been admitted seven hours previously still in the dirty sheets from the ED stretcher, with alcohol swabs and an empty muko lubricant packet stuck to his skin. The day shift staff had been playing jokes on each other, squirting with syringes. One of the nurses put muko lubricant on the phone receiver in the Stepdown unit for a joke, and one of the patients family members got a phone call, and was slimed. This was a family member of someone who was a seriously injured trauma patient. I was embarrassed, to be honest. Our patients deserve better.
I told the manager, and she'll talk to the nurses who were on duty at the time. But these are just examples of the behaviour I'm seeing every day at work. A trend to care more about break time and hanging out with co-workers than knuckling down and doing the work. Does anyone else see this happening?
I feel some of our staff really don't understand the concept of professionalism, and that you have to act differently at work than you do when you are out with your friends. Maybe part of it is that their friends essentially ARE their co-workers, so work is just another place they see their friends. But still, how do you explain to people where the line is or even teach that concept if it is new to them without sounding like an old hag?
It sounds to me like the true problem here is leadership. Obviously the leadership of the unit and the hospital from preceptors to charge nurses to managers, has not set a proper tone or expectation of professionalism. We have many young and new nurses at the hospital where I work. We have our own school of nursing. Our young new nurses are professional, work hard and are responsible because they have proper mentorship, leadership and role modeling. Our charge nurses and nurse managers are not afraid to give a gentle reminder if young nurses are crossing a line. Sometimes they need to be reminded of the boundries.
Having worked at several hosptals in my career, avoiding work, laziness, socialization at the expense of patient care, excessive pranks and the like, are not persuits limited to young nurses. I've seen a number of older nurses who always come in 20 minutes late, take hour-long breakfast and lunch breaks every day, and hand pick the easiest assignments. Again, its not a generation thing, its about nursing leadership that looks the other way.
this is very true. when you say new generation, it's not just the young nurses but the new nurses. i hate to say but due to the nursing shortage, sweet pay, benefits, and job security many people are going into this profession for themselves. not too long ago nurses had a starting salary of $12,000 to $20,000/ year, so they hadto be in it for the people. it's not just nurses... many other health care professionals do the same. i don't blame people for thinking about themselves and pushing to make more, but it's not the type of career that you do only for yourself.
The younger nurses that I work with really seem hard working. So, I disagree. We have one older nurse who's been there forever who is very non-productive, and tries to rule the roost and hog up all the easy pt assignments. I'm 47 BTW.
Some of the younger nurses seem very sharp, knowledgable and gung ho.
The younger nurses that I work with really seem hard working. So, I disagree. We have one older nurse who's been there forever who is very non-productive, and tries to rule the roost and hog up all the easy pt assignments. I'm 47 BTW.
Some of the younger nurses seem very sharp, knowledgable and gung ho.
Thanks for that. 28 years old here and very dedicated to my job, but that's just it isn't it......just a job....nursing is not a life mission it's a job. I love to have fun at work with my co-wokers during breaks and away from patients, most people in their carreers do so and nursing should be no different. Don't take the fun away just be smart about where and when you have the fun....My generation is very different than the older generation and for the I am proud and grateful in many ways. Sure there are negative points about my generation but we are young and we have time to grow and develop. But fingers can be pointed at every generation those before me and after me. My generation may be seen lazy at times to an older generation ...(hopefully not all the time lol :chuckle ) but they have to understand our work ethic is still there its just that we don't work ourselves to the "grave" anymore. we take vacation and enjoy ourselves, something my parents and definetly my grandparents never did very much. We only give a part of our life, our energy to our jobs because it only makes up a small fraction of our very big world. Not all young people goof around all the time or neglect their patients, please don't group all of us into a small category, it's not logical.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I don't buy it, either. I see PLENTY of "old nurses' hogging "easy assignments" cause they have "been there forever and have the authority" to get away with it-----they often do hand off the crummy, difficult assignments to "younger" nurses. I also see a LOT of entitlement and laziness among young nurses and students, and of course, that burns me up.
Conversely, I see students and young 20-something nurses who INSPIRE me to DO BETTER because they are inquisitive, observant, hard-working and SO smart! These ones keep me "honest", if you know what I mean----they keep me on my toes with their intelligent questions and hard work ethic. I have great hope for future generations when I see the amazing young folks coming up!
Generalizations, as usual, will land us in trouble, so why make them? There are good among ALL generations of nurses. I can say this; I am neither 'young" or "old" lol.
this is very true. when you say new generation, it's not just the young nurses but the new nurses. i hate to say but due to the nursing shortage, sweet pay, benefits, and job security many people are going into this profession for themselves. not too long ago nurses had a starting salary of $12,000 to $20,000/ year, so they hadto be in it for the people. it's not just nurses... many other health care professionals do the same. i don't blame people for thinking about themselves and pushing to make more, but it's not the type of career that you do only for yourself.
why shouldn't nurses get paid what they're worth. i'm 47 and very caring, but i also have a family to feed and house payment to make. i have a heart for my pts, but i don't work for free. my formost reason to choose nursing was flexible working hours, can get a job anywhere, and decent pay. my first responsiblity is to my family.
i also like working around other nurses and having fun. workplace commeradere is important to me, and i work very hard to maintain a positive working atmosphere. why should we all be miserable and sour all the time? i try and instill the same rapport and good feelings with my patients. life is full of enough bitterness and suffering, why make it worse?
-the under-35 crowd as a group has enjoyed the most protracted adolescence in history. (If you don't believe that, then can you please explain to me the popularity among this age group of Adam Sandler movies, skateboarding, going out in your PJs and living with your parents??) They tend to be much more casual about language and manners, not that we taught them very well ourselves :chuckle And most of the stuff they call music is just plain horrible.....all that rage, all the screaming and cursing.....and OUR parents thought our protest music was the end of the world.
Speaking of cursing, they also don't get why we older folks have a bit of a problem with the "F-word"......they throw it around like just any other slang term, while awful memories of the mouthful of soap WE got for saying it when the soup can rolled off the shelf and landed smack on our big toe, dance in our heads. (Sorry, but I STILL save that one for the end of the argument........ :uhoh21: )
Other than those little differences, I don't think there's anything really new under the sun; attitudes may be more lax, but I've seen 20-somethings work 12-hour days, six days a week (my oldest daughter and SIL come to mind) and like Leslie said, a lot of people our age are just marking time until they can get off the hamster wheel.
I don't think it's fair to state that young people in general don't have a work ethic, any more than it is to say all old people are senile or all rich people are greedy. I do think it's better for us to stop criticizing each other and recognize one another for the contributions we do make to our workplaces and the world. :)
Wow!! I think I am offended by that! I'm not taking it as a personal attack, but I am classified as 'under 35', (and will be for the next four years), but have been a nurse for 11 years. I didn't think that category went up to 35. So I am a bit torn by the remarks that you make. While I never went out in my pajamas, and have lived on my own (well, with SO's and a husband) since I graduated from nursing school, and try to curb my profanities, I did (and still do) listen to what you probably consider 'noise'. And I do enjoy an Adam Sandler movie now and then (hey, I like to laugh).
I am also going through a divorce, raising a 5 yr old, working as a staff nurse and a clinical instructor, and will have my masters degree in a year (hopefully). I was in such a hurry to grow up, maybe to escape all the stereotypes that are so typical of my generation. Now I feel like I'm starting all over again (socially that is -thank God I have my career). I need to find a new place to live, start saving money, as I sit here and wonder if I'll ever find me a guy again.
Funny, b/c where I work, who are the ones who are always on the phone, on-line, or weasling to get days off and abusing sick time? Not only the young'ns. I'm not saying they are bad nurses.
Also, I don't know why nurses in their 40's, 50's and 60's have anything to gloat about. My generation (I was born in 1957), is the baby boomer one. What a bunch of narscissistic, materialistic, cry babies are we! We haven't exactly been pure as the driven snow in the morality dept, we pioneered the victim mentality that currently dominates our culture, and we sure did our share of cussing and swearing, smoking pot, and rebelling against authority.
What rose colored glasses are some people wearing???
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
What song is it that says..."every generation blames the one before"?
seems generational gaps in understanding date to Old Testament times.
----
And I am sorry, but NO adolescence is "easy".....to say they are "protected" is to minimize the challenges, difficulties and pains each person faces as he/she enters adulthood and maturity. I say today's kids have it VERY tough in different ways! So what if they like Adam Sandler? What did the Baby Boom generation admire and do? Lets not go there! I can think of plenty of mistakes made in each generation-----and the Boomers had it "easy" ,if you will, compared to the WW2 generation, if you ask me! But that would be minimizing THEIR struggles, too, so I won't go on about it. It would be unfair, wouldn't it?
Instead of all of this generalizing, Why not try to understand and respect one anothers' struggles, rather than tear them down or minimize them? One might actually LEARN something from the "young generations" coming up!
nursemaa
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