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 believe anyone who can manage to make it through the hell of nursing school has some type of work ethic. Some people work and delegate more efficiently. These are the types that appear "lazy". I don't think they are. I think they may be working smarter and not harder.
Unfortunately, I am the type who runs all shift and gets out late. I don't think my co-workers are lazy. I think they delegate more. I still like to put my patients on the commode and get them blankets, etc.
Kudos for this forum for showing me the kind of nurse/human being I want to be and NOT want to be. As someone who has faced discrimination, I could never live with myself if I ever put anyone through that. Grouping people together and having preconceived notions about them and judging them is discrimination.
In regard to the OP, it could be that these 'younger' nurses speak up for themselves more/have more assertiveness skills than the 'older' generation? If my dd chooses nursing, I hope she does a better job at disputing poor working conditions, staff/pt ratios, ect than I have. I was taught (by my parents) to respect authority under all circumstances and to never complain. I'm 33 - I think those younger are being (or have been) taught to better think for/speak up for themselves - not that that is such a bad thing. Fact of the matter is, alot of managers are threatened by someone questioning them or otherwise 'speaking up.'
If it is true that they are getting alot of call offs from these 20 y.o. new hire/new grads b/c they are hung over.....they could easily replace them with new grad RN's that DO want to work - considering what the job market has been like for them recently.
Specializes in BNAT instructor, ICU, Hospice,triage.
I'm a teetotaler so calling in hung over will never be an issue for me. In all the years I've been a nurse (20 years) I have called in twice and that was when I had pneumonia. And then my scheduled 2 maternity leaves of course. I attribute my good health and attitude to not drinking, I've seen what it does to people. My father in law now has alcohol dementia in his 50s.
Guess that's why my best friends in nursing school were much older than me. Scratch that. Yes, they were older than me, but I got along with them not because their age was some magic number but because they had similar values to me (and were just all in all fantastic gals). I am young but work my a$$ off and too do not enjoy the lazy/entitled of my, or any generation. That being said, there are many extremely hard workers around my age, and, gasp(!) younger, with very strong work ethics. There are also quite a few lazy ones who do nothing but complain (don't get me wrong, I am not exempt from complaining, but my work gets done). But guess what? It's the same with any any age group. Good and bad in every "group".
And ya know what? If you're gonna generalize and blame all us under-thirty somethings for being lazy, then I guess we'll just have to generalize and blame all you over-50-somethings for doing a sh!#y job of parenting. Congrats!
Maybe it's the area I work in or the city I live in, but I haven't really seen this trend in nursing. I have definitely seen it in the general population, especially with kids around 16-18 years old. Keep in mind I am only 24, but the new grads we've had on our floor have all been hard workers. It's typically the older generation (50+ yr olds) that feels entitled to leave earlier, take plenty of time for lunch (no matter what the situation on the floor is), not help with other patients, not complete all paperwork or tasks, because they've been there longer and feel they have "earned" that right. Working in OB there is a very low turnover rate, so about 1/3 of our staff is over 40. I would say maybe half of them feel entitled to what I described to some degree (some much more than others). Who knows though, it may just be the way they were raised and they could have always been that way? It's hard to tell. I don't doubt you are seeing this trend, even though I haven't at the hospital I work at. So many parents raise children like this.... It's scary to think what the world will be like in 10-20 years.
I'm a teetotaler so calling in hung over will never be an issue for me. In all the years I've been a nurse (20 years) I have called in twice and that was when I had pneumonia. And then my scheduled 2 maternity leaves of course. I attribute my good health and attitude to not drinking, I've seen what it does to people. My father in law now has alcohol dementia in his 50s.
And ya know what? If you're gonna generalize and blame all us under-thirty somethings for being lazy, then I guess we'll just have to generalize and blame all you over-50-somethings for doing a sh!#y job of parenting. Congrats!
This under 30 thing should probably also GENERALLY apply to people ready to retire. At my place of work, generally speaking....people who are close to retirement want an easier assignment, and mostly get them because of seniority. I once had an older nurse say she couldn't take a trach patient because she doesn't know how to do trach care...like seriously, and she wanted to exchange for my independent patient who didn't use the call light.
now, though i see your point that a lot of newer grads and younger nurses do have these qualities that you've stated, many young nurses are exactly the opposite. many are hard workers, and because they are new to nursing, aren't burnt out or spiteful. isn't this a little stereotypical to say, isn't it true that there are these types of nurses in all age categories?? i know for a fact that i work just as hard, or harder than some of the older nurses on my unit. i could even go as far as saying that "us under 30 nurses" run circles around the older nurses, and don't need nearly as many "coffee breaks." but i know that the nurses on my unit, no matter their age, are very hard working and knowledgeable, and i would never call any age group out. maybe i'm just lucky and work with great nurses of all ages.
take a breath. the op and many others agreed that this does not apply to all younger nurses. i am still amazed that a few self-described intelligent people ignore this in every thread, and feel the need to defend themselves so aggressively, when it has been made clear by so many that the topic does not apply to every single person in the discussed group.
as for "running circles" around older nurses, well, i'm sure it must appear that way to you. older nurses have organizational skills and a body of knowledge to draw from that younger ones just don't have yet, so they don't have to "run." the younger ones will get there eventually if they work at it.
so hears food for thought, maybe this is a problem with your individual management teams and leadership on the units. if you've got a bunch of free loaders on your hands, why are they still working for your institution? why did they get hired in the first place? and why did they make it past the "orientation phase"? there is an evaluation process for a reason.
ironically enough, these are questions that some of us have, too, but are not questions that we can address (unless some of us did the actual hiring of these less-than-stellar employees). trust me, if we had the authority to do something about it, we would!
and if you want to get even deeper into the subject of young adults being lazy and non-hard working, lets take a look at the parents, who taught these "kids" their habits and work ethic. humans lead by example, they had to have been taught these habits somewhere down the line..
i don't disagree with this, but as someone else already pointed, i'm their mother. they should have learned these lessons at home. nor can i force them to follow my example if they choose not to. we are actually dealing with one very bad (or good, depending on how you look at it) example of this at work right now, and nothing we have tried is doing any good.
i do think that you are lucky, but i also bet that if you take off your rose colored glasses for a second, you'll find that some of those "great nurses" aren't as great at you'd like us to believe.
And ya know what? If you're gonna generalize and blame all us under-thirty somethings for being lazy, then I guess we'll just have to generalize and blame all you over-50-somethings for doing a sh!#y job of parenting. Congrats!
Good grief! See post 45 if you want my response, then PLEASE try some reading comprehension!
Oh, and as for blaming parenting, that excuse only flies until you're 18, then personal responsibility kicks in.
In regard to the OP, it could be that these 'younger' nurses speak up for themselves more/have more assertiveness skills than the 'older' generation? If my dd chooses nursing, I hope she does a better job at disputing poor working conditions, staff/pt ratios, ect than I have. I was taught (by my parents) to respect authority under all circumstances and to never complain. I'm 33 - I think those younger are being (or have been) taught to better think for/speak up for themselves - not that that is such a bad thing. Fact of the matter is, alot of managers are threatened by someone questioning them or otherwise 'speaking up.'
If it is true that they are getting alot of call offs from these 20 y.o. new hire/new grads b/c they are hung over.....they could easily replace them with new grad RN's that DO want to work - considering what the job market has been like for them recently.
No one said anything about speaking up, it's the actions, or lack of them, that are objected to. Be assertive for good working conditions all you want, but there's a job to be done in the meantime, regardless of current working conditions. And if working conditions are the problem and are that bad, then there IS another option...
It's scary to think what the world will be like in 10-20 years.
sistasoul
724 Posts
I believe anyone who can manage to make it through the hell of nursing school has some type of work ethic. Some people work and delegate more efficiently. These are the types that appear "lazy". I don't think they are. I think they may be working smarter and not harder.
Unfortunately, I am the type who runs all shift and gets out late. I don't think my co-workers are lazy. I think they delegate more. I still like to put my patients on the commode and get them blankets, etc.