A friend of mine is a manager who recently went to a management seminar. It was the same old thing until they asked what peoples' biggest problems are. One person said "employees under 30," and everyone in the room agreed. They find this demographic to be needy and entitled (I'm sure this does not apply to everyone, but is a much bigger trend than in past years).
My department recently hired MANY new nurses, and all but one is under 30. They call in when they are hung over, go home early, and they're lazy at work. The only thing I can depend on them to do is get their coffee break. I'm sure these nurses have many fine qualities, and maybe the rest of us are just martyrs (put in the full 46ish hours a week, mop our own ORs, etc), but it's just a whole different attitude. People in other departments note a similar trend. Radiology techs will refuse to go to certain cases because it will interfere with their lunch.
I'm sure I will get a bunch of posts from 20-somethings about how hard they work, and I'm sure there are some out there who really do work their tails off. But managers (and coworkers) are starting to take note of "generation me."
Threads with this general theme are started all the time. I find it amusing that people get SO offended on one; do they not realize that if they sift through pages they're going to find several more? It's not like this is the first!
I think the younger nurses who do not fall into this generalization are upset about the existence of the generalization itself. They may be amongst the hardest working nurses on the team, and it is offensive and hurtful when one's age alone causes assumptions about their maturity or work ethic.
This attitude that is held by some people (at work, yes, but also in life) is the main reason why I dislike telling others my age. Assumptions are often made that I must like a certain type of music, or like to go out partying, simply because I'm considered "young". I have received countless times upon telling somebody how old I am, the comment, "Oh, you're just a baby," which maybe is meant as a harmless remark, but it is not. Babies have no experience, no autonomy. None of these applies to me.
Are there lazy 20-somethings? Of course there are. Are there older nurses who can't handle the job anymore just because they're old? Sure.
Generalizations like these hurt people, whether they are intended to or not. Any age group or generation will have those who don't carry their weight on the job, and it's too bad that sometimes it's the youngest ones who bear the brunt of assumptions just because they're the youngest.
My comments aren't directed at any one commenter. They're just my thoughts on the matter.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Discrimination. Plain and Simple. Imagine your young son or your daughter entering the nursing profession and automatically being judged.
Sorry - but thinking something isn't discrimination. My daughter is studying to be a physical therapist and I can assure you she doesn't give much thought to what a bunch of people she doesn't know would say about people under 30 when she is in no way like them. There are enough real things in our lives to be wasting energy being upset or hurt about "generalizations" that are constantly being made about a group we are in by happenstance.
Sorry - but thinking something isn't discrimination. My daughter is studying to be a physical therapist and I can assure you she doesn't give much thought to what a bunch of people she doesn't know would say about people under 30 when she is in no way like them. There are enough real things in our lives to be wasting energy being upset or hurt about "generalizations" that are constantly being made about a group we are in by happenstance.
The problem is that a number of posters, those with the power to hire people, have said that they don't even consider potential candidates under 30. That IS discrimination.
I'm sure if your daughter graduates she will be very distressed if recruitment personnel fail to even consider her for employ simply because she is under 30.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
The problem is that a number of posters, those with the power to hire people, have said that they don't even consider potential candidates under 30. That IS discrimination.
I'm sure if your daughter graduates she will be very distressed if recruitment personnel fail to even consider her for employ simply because she is under 30.
As I recall one poster said that, and she explained it several long subsequent posts. My daughter is already networking with several future employers as well as considering an internship with one in the same county her school is in. The idea that anyone believes it's a widespread conspiracy not to hire nurses
If the thread had been titled "Nurses >50", and talked about older nurses who never wear makeup, constantly call out or leave early because of their grandchildren, refuse to lift things, and still practice nursing like they did in the 1970s, the resulting outcry would have been far louder.
Sorry - but thinking something isn't discrimination. My daughter is studying to be a physical therapist and I can assure you she doesn't give much thought to what a bunch of people she doesn't know would say about people under 30 when she is in no way like them. There are enough real things in our lives to be wasting energy being upset or hurt about "generalizations" that are constantly being made about a group we are in by happenstance.
Good luck to your daughter.
I hope she never faces any sort of discrimination in her life/career ever.
I hope she doesn't get discriminated against by a patient who says he doesn't want a black nurse, or an Asian nurse, or a Latino nurse, or a white nurse.
I hope she doesn't face any discrimination for being a female.
I hope she doesn't get thrown off a case because she might be gay.
I hope that she doesn't get discriminated against because she's not a certain age.
I think you're wrong in thinking that time should not be wasted on these "generalizations." It's attitudes like that that allow all these "isms" to exist.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Good luck to your daughter.
I hope she never faces any sort of discrimination in her life/career ever.
I hope she doesn't get discriminated against by a patient who says he doesn't want a black nurse, or an Asian nurse, or a Latino nurse, or a white nurse.
I hope she doesn't face any discrimination for being a female.
I hope she doesn't get thrown off a case because she might be gay.
I hope that she doesn't get discriminated against because she's not a certain age.
I think you're wrong in thinking that time should not be wasted on these "generalizations." It's attitudes like that that allow all these "isms" to exist.
You have got to be kidding me. Because I said that "thinking" something is not discrimination that somehow connects me to racism, homophobia, and sexism? What an unconscionable accusation to make. I am so angry right now my hands are shaking so I better stop here. You have NO IDEA who I am, what I think, what my sexual orientation is or anything else. Outrageous.
And lest any of your fellows in thought have the gall to say "see how it feels" this is a personal insinuation about me and my daughter.
You have got to be kidding me. Because I said that "thinking" something is not discrimination that somehow connects me to racism, homophobia, and sexism? What an unconscionable accusation to make. I am so angry right now my hands are shaking so I better stop here. You have NO IDEA who I am, what I think, what my sexual orientation is or anything else. Outrageous.
And lest any of your fellows in thought have the gall to say "see how it feels" this is a personal insinuation about me and my daughter.
I am not personally attacking you. But, IF (and I said IF) you agree with the way of thinking that nurses
I really do wish you or your daughter never get discriminated against. It's terrible. I've had it happen to me and I've seen it happen to countless others. Sometimes people forget to put themselves in other people's shoes and when you remind them how it affect them or people in their lives, suddenly a light bulb goes off (sometimes). God bless you.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I think you're wrong in thinking that time should not be wasted on these "generalizations." It's attitudes like that that allow all these "isms" to exist.
Well, if that isn't personal I'd love to know what you think is personal. The "you" is sort of a tip off. Not only is it personal, it's saying my attitude about discrimination (of which you know nothing) allows the isms to exist. In other words, I would be part of the problem of all those isms still being around. Now if you will ponder that for a second you may get how that is different from my post about thinking being different than acting.
This is the last I'll say as I don't want to hijack the thread, but why would you feel you needed to remind me to put myself in other people's shoes? I will repeat again - you know nothing about me! and there is no need for you to turn on the lightbulb with your comments about blacks, Asians, gay men and women or old people. I've posted many times on allnurses in those threads about race. If you are interested in anything more than being patronizing to me you might want to read them. I'm sorry you were discriminated against, but I am not going to accept the idea that anything I've said contributed to perpetuating it.
cherrybreeze, ADN, RN
1,405 Posts
Threads with this general theme are started all the time. I find it amusing that people get SO offended on one; do they not realize that if they sift through pages they're going to find several more? It's not like this is the first!