Nurses Under 30 Years Old

Ruby Vee, BSN · Nov 18, 2010

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.

i don't understand. at 21 i was an adult and had been self-supporting for years. if there was a problem, i took care of it. i can understand a 12 year old needing to call a parent if there's a problem, but 21? i don't understand the necessity of being instantly available to adult children.

JamieLeeRN · Nov 18, 2010

Yes, I am a nurse who is under 30, as a matter of fact I am 25 and have been a nurse for three years this summer. All I have to say is that I am so sick and tired of people complaining about the "twenty-somethings" they work with. First, most people I see complain about the way other people work aren't very good at their jobs to start with, they are exactly what they complain about:lazy, entitled, incompitent...whatever the complaint may be. As a nurse at my age, I would say that the majority of lazy and entitled nurses I have met are older nurses who are not in their twenties. Nurses who have been in the career for a long time, and it appears they do not feel the need to do their job anymore. It is even worse in union hospitals, because then these people who are lazy and don't feel like doing their jobs, are "protected" by the union, and even worse, get extra benefits because they have "senority"...please please please, give me a break. Not only that, nurses who have been in the field for such a long time often stop educating themselves properly...yes of course we have to fullfill CEUs, but how many of you actually further your education??? If I have another nurse who has been out of school for about ten years tell me that it isn't the nurses responsibility to withold pain medication a doctor ordered, or it isn't the nurses job to do that because someone else shuold do it...I may want to pull my hair out. Nurses have more legal responsibility, we lose our licenses faster and easier than doctors or CNAs, LEGALLY as nurses we have a responsibility to ourselves and our patients to know our responsibilities, even if you are just trying to coast out of your career.

So now that everyone who may consider themselves or be considered an "older" nurse can ask themselves how many of their peers they see behaving this way, maybe even themselves...and then you can ask yourselves how it feels to have fingers pointed at you and being labeled because of the way others behave.

How about if people stop tagging others with social stigmas, and start focussing on themselves and doing their job the way they are supposed to?

mandababy0326 · Nov 18, 2010

I think "nurses under 30" is a bit of a generalization. I am 24, yes I work my butt off- constantly picking up OT and barely sitting down in a busy ER. I work with lazy young nurses and lazy older nurses, and I would say there is an equal amount of each. Our department sees the trend moreso in the young (more like 18-22 yr old) transporters and techs than the young nurses. It's not really fair to generalize in my opinion- it's the same as the under 30 crowd complaining about the "old, dried up, cranky" over 40 y/o nurses!

GM2RN · Nov 18, 2010

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

I fail to see how this statement is an example of an attitude of entitlement, or how it needs a "time and a place." :confused:

allnurses Guide · Nov 18, 2010

. Better yet how many times have we seen older nurses busting their chops and putting themselves in debt to bail out some self entitled piece of crap that they call their child? Then we roll into work and start nitpicking some younger nurse because we're actually ****** off at our kid and bringing our life problems into work. As AA and NA says "keep the focus on your self", "take your own inventory." Nursing would do well to live by that motto.[

This happens far too often and I really don't get it. Nurses my age and older are working two jobs and babysitting the grandkids on their 3 hours of time off per week so they can pay their 28 year old son's mortgage because if he doesn't make the car payment this month it will be reposessed but it was impounded because his buddy wrecked in a tree and oh by the way his gf is expecting again? :confused: I really want to ask them if they're alright in the head as they kill themselves for the ingrate "kids" -- I always told my kids they'd thank me one day that they didn't get a new car when they turned 16 or the latest fancy schmancy cell phone/ipod/camera/whatever but they aren't quite there yet.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2010

I have had the pleasure of working with some fantastic young nurses. I do feel that younger nurses are in a minority now and you do not see the same quantity of young nurses coming into the profession which I feel is very sad. When I trained as a nurse we had only 2 nurses who were older one was 40 and one was 42 the rest of us were in our 20's and younger! Now 22 yrs on we are all mature nurses.

Young nurses who come into nursing are our future and need supporting and protecting they need more direction just because they do not have life experiences yet. They will one day be the older nurses who will have lots of skills and life experiences just give them a chance

sophie_bob_kids · Nov 19, 2010

Very good points. When I first read the post I was somewhat offended. I'm a 26 y.o. male. However, after reading the replies I have to agree that I feel many people my age feel entitled. This is the "all about me" generation. If people think these 20 somethings are bad, just wait until the people under 20 grow up...they will be even worse.
I also have to agree that many many people 40+ think they are entitled to something. I cant remember the times I was in clinical and my nurse said something along the lines "I've been doing this for XX years, I think it's time for me to take a break." As was stated, it's all about the personality of the person.
I grew up with what everyone calls a good "work ethic." Having parents who were a poor example I relied on my grandfather for most of my moral lessons. He taught me two very good things: 1.) Always work to be a servant to the people. 2.) Never feel less than anyone in any situation.
Taking those to heart I graduated #1 in high school, joined the military for 6 years and went to war, finished #1 in WLC (Sergeant school), obtained my associates in criminal justice, got married and have two children, joined nursing school and just last week I made the Honor Society for nursing with a 3.66 GPA, accepted a job offer as a nurse circulator (now just need to pass boards), and I'm providing for my family while my wife stays at home with the kiddos.
This is not meant to be a self-righteous pat on the back, but a strong example that you need to do a personal gut-check before you go off and label an age group. Have you ever asked any of these

Good job! We need more nurses like you!

efda3 · Nov 25, 2010

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."

I really wanted to get upset at this post, as I am in my mid-20s and NOTHING like this. I also was supporting myself since the age of 17, which is not the case for everyone.

I agree that there are many "young" people who CAN act this way and I find it disheartening because I have to work that much harder to prove myself to "older" people and show them that I am very mature, responsible, motivated, and loyal.

rollerskatingrn · Nov 25, 2010

I am glad you are a responsible phone user. It looks bad to use your phone in the hallway with patient's family watching you. I see the irresponsible use of phones where I work. I keep mine in the locker and check it if I have to go to the bathroom. I agree it is our only lifeline to our family but don't do it in the hall and then get mad if someone catches you. You sound like a great nurse.

RNDreamer · Nov 25, 2010

I have seen the same thing. This age group sneaks their internet connected cell phone and constantly check and chat on their messages. If you call them on this fact they get defensive. Rule - no cell phones on your person. Rules do not seem to apply to them. I just graduated a year ago at age 49 and the same thing happened in school. Everyone on my floor is over 30 probable for a reason.

"They" do this at my job too. My 30+ coworkers don't. Instead, they use the phone at the nurse's desk to call their husbands:

"What do you want for dinner? Really? What about XXXX"

"I saw XXXX on my way to work today. Yea blah, blah, blah"

"Are we taking the kids to your Mom's this weekend?"

"What are you doing? What are the kids doing?"

"I have to go, there is a nurse standing here looking at me" From the 30+ unit secretary.

I love you muah, muah, muah" hee hee hee, giggle, giggle, giggle "kiss the kids for me"

No age group is innocent.

OCNRN63, RN · Nov 25, 2010

I seriously do not understand why people can't survive working a shift without calling home. On your break, fine. But several times a shift? Get a grip.

GM2RN · Nov 25, 2010

I am glad you are a responsible phone user. It looks bad to use your phone in the hallway with patient's family watching you. I see the irresponsible use of phones where I work. I keep mine in the locker and check it if I have to go to the bathroom. I agree it is our only lifeline to our family but don't do it in the hall and then get mad if someone catches you. You sound like a great nurse.

But it's not the only lifeline to our family. My family knows the phone number to work and have programmed it into their cell phones. If something truly emergent comes up, they just call me there. What's so hard about that? It was done that way for lots of years before cell phones came along.