Nurses Under 30 Years Old

[PetiteOpRN]

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."

[Butterfliesnroses]

I'm 25 years old. The place I work has 3 under 30's. 2 of us are very hard workers and have families of our own. The 3rd has a family as well, however has a tendency to party alot and call in alot. One of the nurses I work with will take her lunch no matter what the circumstances. I, on the other hand, can count on 1 hand the # of times I've taken a lunch...there is always charting to be done, tx to be done, meds to pass. I HATE leaving things for others. I've called in 1 X and that was b/c I was puking my guts out. You can bet your ass I never heard the end of me calling in...yet that other nurse who called in for a week straight...never heard about it (to my knowledge).

[tejas-nurse]

It's just ageism. Those who do all that yapping about high-falutin morals will turn right around and be lazy themselves. Before they turn around they'll stab you in the back first. CYA in nursing, comrade, CYA.

I'm 25 years old. The place I work has 3 under 30's. 2 of us are very hard workers and have families of our own. The 3rd has a family as well, however has a tendency to party alot and call in alot. One of the nurses I work with will take her lunch no matter what the circumstances. I, on the other hand, can count on 1 hand the # of times I've taken a lunch...there is always charting to be done, tx to be done, meds to pass. I HATE leaving things for others. I've called in 1 X and that was b/c I was puking my guts out. You can bet your ass I never heard the end of me calling in...yet that other nurse who called in for a week straight...never heard about it (to my knowledge).

[wolfhound lover]

you know I just got a response to my response, and she is right, I was being agist, I apologize. I do have that over 50 thing about cell phones, and I do think that is an issue, but I sure have worked with some lazy older nurses. I take it back, I apologize, I am usually a better person, must need more COFFEE

[Vanillanut, DNP, RN, APRN]

I am a 29 yr old new RN grad. Well relatively new. :) I work in a very busy ER, with a good mix of ages- although hardly anyone younger then 25. Most of the staff are older, and I am one of the "youngies" (or more annoyingly, the "babies").

In terms of nurses under 30 being treated as "kids" by the older generation- this is totally innappropriate IMO. If you treat someone like a child, you will get child like behaviour (ie, hungover at work). This is a direct result of poor unit management but ultimately, poor parenting/upbringing (acknowledging the person may not be aware of this, or had any control over it). If you're expectations are _____, then you need to state them- even if you think it might go without saying. Sometimes, some people might need that kick in the pants- and by the OP, sounds like they might work in that type of environment.

Having said that, I also have come accross the attitude of entitlement much more amongst older nurses then I have younger ones. Sometimes I will have literally just met someone, and after the initial opening sentence of "hi, I'm releiving you" I'll get a "I was nursing since before you were born". Thats great, really. But I think there's a time and a place for those types of things to be said.

I guess I can just say I'm glad to be right at the cusp of the 30-40 window, where ppl seem to be left alone

[tejas-nurse]

I don't know about them leaving you alone at 30-40. Seems like everyday that someone with just a months' more experience wants to use that to one-up someone else, never mind how that experience was gained or if something was actually learned from it and applied.

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I don't know about them leaving you alone at 30-40. Seems like everyday that someone with just a months' more experience wants to use that to one-up someone else, never mind how that experience was gained or if something was actually learned from it and applied.

You aren't left alone in the 30-40 range, either. You are less "committed" b/c you are either having or raising kids in this range.

[OCNRN63, RN]

Now wait a minute.....I work nights at a local hospital. My cell phone is on my person at all times on vibrate so that in the event my 21 year old has to get ahold of me she can. I don't check it unless I've felt it vibrate and then only when I'm on my break or in the nurses's station charting. I don't check my emails or chat....I have an excellent medical app on my phone that we frequently use while on the floor especially if the med book is missing or being used by someone else. So don't say no cell phones on your person---heck every doc has one & uses it constantly! Including answering personal calls, emails & yes even posting on Facebook!

Responsible use won't hurt anyone. Yes my daughter has the number to my unit but I'm frequently pulled to our sister unit and if there is a problem, I don't want her to have to call all over God's creation to find me.

Do I agree with texting and posting on FB when you're at work on the floor? Of course not--that's ridiculous. But a lot of RNs I work with are single moms and their cell phone is their lifeline to their family.

Generalization is what hurts us as nurses and as human beings.

Thank you.

OMG...How did our families survive before cellphones? Really. The only reason people should be getting personal calls is, "Mom, I've severed my arm," or something along that line. I think we've taken being in constant touch a little too far. (Nothing personal against the poster. I work with people who are on their phones all the time, and phones are supposedly banned.)

[nursel56]

One thing I'd like to add to this is that the shift in mindset regarding work and company loyalty is on both sides. Some of us may feel the lack of loyalty to a company because we know that they'd drop us immediately (without severance of any account) if they needed to without giving us a second thought.

I as an old battleaxe can attest to the truth of this. Many of us declined to have union representation back in the day because (and they were right at the time) management gave wages and benefits comparable to those who were union organized. The first hospital I worked at had a battle royale over it complete with a vote and hysterical politicking on both sides. The union lost. The idea of loyalty going either way is seeming more quaint and archaic by the day.

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

Wow under 30 is no good and over 40 you get pressured to get out and / or won't be hired. Pretty narrow window.

Good thing I'm 35!!! lol

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

OMG...How did our families survive before cellphones? Really. The only reason people should be getting personal calls is, "Mom, I've severed my arm," or something along that line. I think we've taken being in constant touch a little too far. (Nothing personal against the poster. I work with people who are on their phones all the time, and phones are supposedly banned.)

Yeahhhhh, I think ECCRN1996 might not have understood that rollerskatingrn was saying "cell phones are banned" is a hospital policy, not just stating an opinion that they should be banned. However, I'll say it: they SHOULD be banned. It is ridiculous to believe you require a phone on your person. If you believe that, you apparently weren't alive 20 years ago. We all survived just fine without these damn phones. If you are pulled to a sister unit I'm purty sure your charge nurse/unit clerk would know that and would be able to relay that to said "emergency" caller and even transfer the caller! And let's think about this for a minute: how many "emergency" calls do we get from our spouses/kids that are not emergencies at all?

Until a couple months ago we been able to keep our phones on us due to "needing" to use them for drug guides, etc. However staff continued to use them to Facebook, text, play around, share YouTube videos, etc. so the hospital said we could not have them on us at all, and told us with regard to the drug guides etc. to crack a book old-school style. And I totally do not blame them. Yes we have some down time, but the fact of the matter is that your down time is probably someone else's "up time" and when I have to stand there and wait for this video and that FB photo to be shared and passed around in order to tell another staff member something, it is compromising patient care.

[MMayo]

Look up the term "Gernation Y" and read their characteristics. Essentailly, you are going to find that the under 30 crowd work much differently from generation Xer's, 35 and over. Primarily, Generation Yer's love technology more than us old Xer's, who are familar with techonology, but most of Genration Xer's aren't as comfortable with it. Secondly, and most important, Genration Yer's work in group best and don't fly solo much. This applies to their social realations as well, everything is in a group. Generation Xer's are 100% solo independent in much of what we do. The two work styles do not complement each other easily.

I primarly work with 30+ nurses and CNAs, and work independence is number one in attitudes. Then comes a youngster under 30, and they just don't fit in. They seem needy in help with their average tasks. Genxer's just abandom the GenYer's and they suffer and leave. I have seen the Genration Yer's work together and be relatively successful, but they have to organize their work group to be susccessful. Put a the younger crowd together and see what they can do. That has been my solution at my facility.

[eCCU]

ugh i completely feel sorry for your new graduates and young nurses! Anyone care to listen to their reasoning. Talk about Nurses eating their young! "chomp chomp chomp!:argue::argue:

Afterall from what i hear from my few yrs of experience things were terrible disrespectful physicians, horrible work enviroments where ICU nurses were tripling hemodynamically unstable patients and med-surg nurses had like 10 pts a piece. Of course they call in because some nurse managers never want to give any personal time off or vacation they have to be begged! Get over it yes they are the new generation and we also like better work enviroments and so what if CRNA makes life comfortable and can retire by the time they are 60? blah blah blah....Haters keep on hating.....when was the last time you saw a physician yelling at one of them? at my work place nope! even my attending has calmed like a new man over the years! They just will not take your crap Nursing is one of the so called professional careers that even your co workers, manager keep on beating each other down instead of mentoring and learning from one another and thats why we never get respect from other disciplines that classify themselves as professional programs. They new Nurses are demanding that.....and yes i am in my 30s, love Nursing and i love the new generation!! I have seen facebooking coworkers to accesing their meds and calculators on their smartphones and texting their other friends to ask medical questions and getting instant feedback. Recognize first work is not their life and that they have a life outside of work nursing is not being a matyr its just that simple.......:smokin::smokin::cheers::cheers::cheers::dancgrp: