Instant gratification is the act of wanting something and the expectation is that you are rewarded immediately. In nursing, there are often multiple generations working in the same unit. Seasoned nurses can find wanting instant gratification a character defect. Newer nurses are foreign to the concept of waiting. To build a successful team, there needs to be a way to marry the two.
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Indulge me for a moment. Back in the day, nothing was instant but coffee. There was a waiting game for almost every aspect of life. It set people up to have a number of anticipatory feelings. Anticipation is a unusual concept today. Instant answers, instant results, instant communication all lead to question--as a multi-generational team, can nurses really merge the older and younger generations to make things run smoothly?
There are a number of seasoned nurses who decide not to retire. They are in a place where they want to work, they need to work, they enjoy the work.
Seasoned nurses have experiences of having to wait for the means to the end. Therefore, their nursing practice reflects careful and mindful nursing choices. They have to critcally think the whole picture. Their nursing judgement is looking at the pieces to make the whole.
What are we going to do now to make this a positive outcome for the future?
Mid career nurses (meaning the generation "X" among us) are in the middle of their nursing practice as well. Some still have kids at home, have to work, have a desire to work for what they want/have to look to the future, however, are mindful of the present.
This group may have some thoughts of instant gratification at times in their nursing practice, however, anticipate the worst and practice for the best based on their interventions. Generation "X" nurses are more acutely aware of delayed gratification.
Most of their parents used a reward system for most of their childhoods. They were very used to the term "that's not fair". These nurses have a diversity in their work style. They have had to always adapt, so it comes naturally for most nurses in this age group. Failing means to re-group and re-visit and try again.
Newer nurses have always had instant gratification. The thought of waiting is not in their mindset, therefore, the level of frustration goes up when their nursing practice doesn't reflect this concept. Well meaning parents had a great deal of flexibility, some on a friendship based parenting style, which can reflect to others as not being respectful. This is rarely the intent, however, can often be a professional faux pas that more seasoned and mid career nurses will take pause to. Failing is not in the thought process at all. So what is helpful in this generation is multiple appropriate interventions to get a positive result.
Diversity in the workplace can mean many things, and can be related to a multi-generational work ethic. We can learn a great deal from each other and our styles of nursing. If we take the personalization out of the equation, and look to what each generation brings to the nursing practice as a whole can we build a better team. Often, if we look at what everyone brings to the table, reflect on how to deal with the different generations accordingly can we brainstorm ways to increase patient satisfaction, and a good end result for the patients.
