ok i have been an lpn for 7 and 1/2 years, i was a cna for 2 years prior to becoming a nurse, and i have about 3 pre-reqs left to take, before i can enter into a local fast track program, i have worked primarily in ltc, and i just wondered how other nurses felt about this, and i dont want to seem insensitive, i am 29, and full of energy, and new ideas, i work alot of times with nurses who have been nursing 20 plus years, and thats a great achievement, commendable even, however, i think SOME seasoned nurses just need to kno when to say hay i devoted my life to doing what i love, but now..............i say this because too many times, i have worked with much older nurses who, over the years have become very lax in their thinking, and care, take off alot d/t ailments, etc, orientate brand new nurses, and telling and showing them the wrong way, and we all kno that working in ltc is a highly stressful, fast-paced field, and some literally can not keep up! then some, realize this and are givin these cushy, m-f, office jobs, so nurses like myself, are left with the crappy shifts like 3-11, 4 on 2 off, etc, i think that if you hold a title, rn, lpn, cna, if you come to a point in your life where you are not able to function for whatever reason as your title, then........ i realize experience plays a big role, i look to some seasoned nurses for guiadance still, but id be willing to bet that i could run circles around them, and where i work, caring for 45 residents, u literally have to run, pushing a huge buggy of medicine, and these residents deserve that, there are all types of discrimination, but i believe one that is left out is against young nurses, with young children, b/c i guess its assumed that you wont be dependable, but a nurse with a bad heart, etc etc wit 20 plus years exp. is a better choice?? and im not what i would consider a, "new nurse" i kno i dont kno it all, but sometimes its just frustrating and unfair, if need be i can still function as a cna, and still come back and do my job, and thats why im glad i will have gone thru each level before i get my rn, so i will have some knowledge of where everyone is coming from, well just thot id get that off my chest, thats my opinion, if you dont like it, move on to the next thread, god bless, mwah!
I'm younger than 29yo and there are nurses in there 40's & 50's who can run circles around me without running. Why? b/c they've been there & done that...superb time management, prioritization & assessment skills....
I don't know what examples you've been shown but the examples Ive seen have stamina...
Plus all the extra energy means nothing. Why work harder when you can work smarter....They are very resourceful....
3 trips down the hall for me is equivalent to their one round.....Sometimes I feel like I need to have a grocery basket
Ah, supernurse, have you read the statistics on the average age of nurses? I am not as snappy and quick as I used to be, I have medical problems and my joints hurt with osteo AND rheumatoid arthritis. But I do my very best to take care of my paients each time I work. I can't do 12 hour shifts anymore, that's fine. But if all of us who have slowed down and aged up quit, you would have to be supersuperdupernurse to pick up the slack. Isn't the real question why there is such an inhumane pace in bedside nursing? Even the youngest and sharpest nurses I know seldom have a spare minute to do anything other than put out the fires and carry out the tasks. And that's not nursing, I'm sorry, it just isn't.
op... do you know what being 60 feels like? it feels a heckuva lot like what 18 or 25 feels like. i still clean my face with the same clinique toner i used when i was 18. now i use the one formulated for combination oily/dry skin and instead of the very oily formula i used then. i have some wrinkles, laugh lines, and a lot more tolerance than i used to have. our houses may be paid for at this age but we still have bills to pay. we like to travel, read, eat out, party occasionally (just not all night anymore.) my point?
i did not spent six years getting this education to be nudged out by some k-i-d who thinks i'm senile and a hazard by simple virtue of my age. as we who are older than you age, supervisors make sure we're still competent to practice our profession. just as the dot makes sure we're safe drivers. we keep up-to-date by reading journals, ceus, and going to conferences.
keep in mind that some day (believe it or not) you will be older than you are now.
as a group, we're not ready to garden fulltime or sit and rock while holding one of our 100 cats...
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I am 28 years old, with a 29th birthday approaching next month, and I have only been in nursing for 4 years.
Anyhow, I just wanted to comment that I am very fond of the seasoned nurses with whom I've worked. It is amazing to see them get through virtually any situation with efficiency, grace, and a calm demeanor. We must all remember that true expertise often takes years to cultivate.
To all of the older, seasoned nurses out there: "Thank you for all that you do."
I graduated from nursing school at 46..I find your post offensive. I have worked long term care and in the hospital...I have been a RN for two years a LPN for two years before that and a CNA for 5 years prior to that. I could and can run circles around most of the other CNA's etc..You obviously have very litte compassion and experience and seem to be quite immature..
I graduated from nursing school at 46..I find your post offensive. I have worked long term care and in the hospital...I have been a RN for two years a LPN for two years before that and a CNA for 5 years prior to that. I could and can run circles around most of the other CNA's etc..You obviously have very litte compassion and experience and seem to be quite immature..
I actually understand where the OP is coming from. I once worked with an older nurse in a LTC facility and when her patient who was a full code become unresponsive all those years of experience meant nothing because she had to go and find someone else to begin CPR. She said she "doesn't that anymore." And this isn't something I heard through the grapevine. I was there to witness it and hear it myself.
I feel if you're unable to do certain things whether it's due to age or other physical limitations you need to find an area of nursing that accommodates you. Being the primary nurse to 30 patients and not being able to perform CPR just makes you unsafe in my book.
It sounds like, for whatever reason, be it physical or psychological, the nurse in your example just wasn't going to do CPR and that's all there was to it.
I know nurses in their 60s and 70s who are BLS certified and ready and willing to resuscitate whenever the need arises. And I know many others, younger and older, who don't want to do CPR and drag their feet when it's time to recertify. I know nurses young and old who rage against having to know and perform CPR in LTC, stating "that's why I work with old people... they're ready to die... their families should just let them go... blah blah blah... blather blather blather..." That's an attitude problem that has nothing to do with age and ability.
Doing CPR is painful and very tiring for me, and I would prefer to never do it ever again. But I can and will do it whenever it's necessary.
i was hospitalized five years ago for an ulcer i didn't know i had. i had had this nagging substernal pain but i disregarded it because it just didn't seem bad enough to be an ulcer.
because i downplayed it, so did my internist. i ended up in the hospital being transfused with several pints of blood over a 36 hour period. my night nurse had been an army nurse during wwii and korea.
she was still fantastic! she answered all my questions very throughly and patiently and knew how scared i was. she also called me "little iodine." she may have been mostly retired and just working
prn in a rural hospital, but there was absolutely no mistaking the fact that she was still colonel ____.
she may have been in her upper 80's but she certainly knew her stuff and could run circles around most of the other nurses. when she'd peek in and find me awake, she'd get her coffee, sit and she'd share stories from way back when.
Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.
I recently passed the 60 years of age mark but would venture to say I could still keep up in LTC if need be; worked in a large one a year and a half ago and outran my younger counterparts. Having said that, as a seasoned older nurse, sometimes I am paid for what I KNOW and not necessarily what I DO. And that knowledge can often save a life no matter the setting.
I do have to give my "opinion" here. Glad supernurse got some things off her chest, BUT- one thing I've learned as a nurse is to NEVER EVER make assumptions. That goes for patients, young nurses, old nurses, middle aged nurses. I hope she starts to learn this very soon, or am afraid she's going to get herself in trouble with naive thinking. Good luck and give everyone a fair chance girlie!
Specializes in trauma, ortho, burns, plastic surgery.
My first world came is POOR YOU, supernurse.
Hon your dreams are too too high , your expectancies giant. Give your self time.
These oldies has their role...... may be they are not so speady, neither so mind bright, and may they hands are not so good than before.... but they are there for a reason EXPERIENCE.
When a top level control will be in place you want one of them closed, when a "supersmart" young MD start to prove him self you will wanted the oldies with you....
Belive me hon are young nurses MUCH more ugly souls than oldies ones.
People are people give nice one a chance.
LIVE AND LET OTHERS TO LIVE! Don't mess up with oldies, they will not mess up with you....
Find your spot in life and let others to live their life....just be ....good!
gcupid
528 Posts
I'm younger than 29yo and there are nurses in there 40's & 50's who can run circles around me without running. Why? b/c they've been there & done that...superb time management, prioritization & assessment skills....
I don't know what examples you've been shown but the examples Ive seen have stamina...
Plus all the extra energy means nothing. Why work harder when you can work smarter....They are very resourceful....
3 trips down the hall for me is equivalent to their one round.....Sometimes I feel like I need to have a grocery basket