Older nurse lacking computer skills

Nurses General Nursing

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I have a problem. My mother who is 60 years of age has been a home care hospice nurse since the dawn of man. She is awesome at it. It is her passion and at this point in her life it is a huge part of her identity. Unfortunately about a year ago she suffered some health problems and is no longer able to do it because of physical limitations. A few months ago she was hired by one of the larger health care companies in the state as a triage nurse in their call center. Again she is dealing mostly with hospice cases which she likes but she is really struggling with the technology aspect of her new gig. She is putting in extra hours trying to learn but she is so worried that she is going to get canned because of her lack of computer skills. So I guess the point of my post is to see if any of you all have run into this issue and if there are any miracle classes or programs out there that will help teach her some skills. She is an awesome nurse and doesn't want to be put up on the shelf just yet! Please help!

Specializes in being a Credible Source.
My point is this: computers have been important in the workplace since the mid to late 1980s. That's 25 years. Why has your mother taken no steps to keep herself current with the demands of the economy for TWENTY FIVE YEARS? If she expected to be employable, then she should have made sure she had the skills expected of employees.

She needs to take responsibility for finding resources to teach her how to use computers. If her employer provides them, great. If not, search. If she's worried about employers dismissing her as "an old nurse," she should be more worried about them dismissing her as someone who made no effort to stay current in her field.

That's a little harsh but not inaccurate at its root.

As I near 50, and plan to work 'til I'm 70, I'm mindful that I need to offer things that most young 'uns can't while still offering most of what they can (that is, any new technology with which they're comfortable) as well as a few things of my own (e.g., I'm actively developing my 2nd language skills... tougher at 50 than it was at 25 but I'm a whole lot more motivated now than then)

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Specializes in Hospice / Psych / RNAC.

She needs to improve her keyboarding skills (typing) to be comfortable learning about the software. It may sound lame but in order to be proficient in learning software she can't waste her time looking down at the keys all the time. If she knows how to type great, but if she's struggling because she doesn't know the keyboard, then she needs to start there. To be proficient she wouldn't need to look at the keys while typing. If this has been discussed already I apologize...I didn't read the former comments. I was almost out the door when just browsing and saw this post.

I would look for a private tutor or a friend who knows how to type to help. There are programs on the internet for beginners of keyboarding/typing but it all depends on what kind of learner she is. I taught my sons how to type knowing that in this world that one needs to know how to type if they're going to compete in today's job market. Make a list of things she needs to learn and put in typing every other task until she's comfortable with it. Or start any lesson with 15 minutes of typing review. Finger placement is critical to succeed.

I'm 60 and learned how to type in the 6th grade (boys did wood shop and girls had to type). Back then they could have never imagined how they were helping me to live in the future world of computers. I went to college at the exact time the internet was evolving. My nursing program had us emailing some of our assignments and the college had x2 computer classes for the degree. Gotta love technology.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.
My point is this: computers have been important in the workplace since the mid to late 1980s. That's 25 years. Why has your mother taken no steps to keep herself current with the demands of the economy for TWENTY FIVE YEARS? If she expected to be employable, then she should have made sure she had the skills expected of employees.

If she's worried about employers dismissing her as "an old nurse," she should be more worried about them dismissing her as someone who made no effort to stay current in her field.

Harsh much?! For the record, I work in a huge, world renown, university-based health system and you know when we went to EMR? 2009! So although computers in the medical field have been around for a long time computer charting certainly has not. Not only that but computer usage has been likened to language. There is only a small window of time in childhood when learning a language can be done without struggling. It is a well known fact that learning language at a later age is much more difficult and may even be impossible for some people through no fault of their own. Just because people are struggling does not mean they are not trying.

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Specializes in Transitional Care, Home Care.

duskyjewel-what makes you think you know anything about my mother, her motivation, and what she has been doing for the last 20 years. If you don't have any constructive critisms or advice please don't bother to post.

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Specializes in Transitional Care, Home Care.

Thanks everyone, I think I will try to get her on this site by sending her a link to this thread! She'll be able to read all of your great ideas and decide where to start.

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Specializes in OR, CVOR, Clinical Education, Informatic.

I teach electronic perioperative documentation to our newly hired associates. It is obvious that many of the more mature nurses simply don't use the computer in any ongoing capacity. I always encourage them to make sure they have glasses that allow them to see the screen clearly and that they have a good understanding of BASIC windows functionality to navigate through the record. For those that need to improve their mouse or keyboarding skills or to overcome their hesitancy to click and navigate I direct them to All Nurses!

From this site they can learn how to search different topics, how to improve typing skills, how to navigate through different screens, how to save, copy & paste, etc. And they get to see that there are plenty of nurses in the same boat. The more practice someone has - in a non-threatening environment - the more successful they will be.

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As a consultant who travels the country training end users to use the Epic applications, I have seen this exact scenario so many times. I have had physicians 80 years old, who have never typed in their life, as well as nurses that would rather quit their jobs than learn the new computer charting systems.

Initially, the training is overwhelming. There is so much information given to them in such a short time period. Even the younger staff members have had issues. Repetition is the key. The more you use something, the more proficient you become. If your mom has MS Office on a home computer, they have tutorials for beginners. The help desk at her facility absolutely has the knowledge to assist her with any issues she seems to be having.

I had a student, recently, who failed her post-training test, twice. She was a major concern to the NM. At go live, I sat with her and she was the rock star of the unit! It is so different from the training environment to the actual live environment. The joy I get from a trainer's prospective is the "light bulb" that goes on over their heads when it "clicks" and they finally get it. It might be an hour into go live, or it might be weeks into it, but it will happen.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I'm 57 and just two years ago I made the leap from paper charting to computer charting AND began an online master's degree. Prior to that, the only 'cut and paste' I had ever done was with actual scissors and real live paste!

My most helpful thing was NOT people telling me to 'play around'. That is intimidating to a tech-naive person, as they fear breaking something or doing something disastrous to the computer system.

My most helpful thing WAS someone writing down for me step-by-step (or click-by-click if you will) instructions to the majority of tasks I need to perform. Put one 'job' per page, and assemble into a binder with LOGICAL headings (logical for them, not logical for you)

I hope this helps - I managed to master the computer to the point that when our facility went live with CPOE last year, I was a super-user / trainer. It can be done.

I admire her for not quitting - tell her for me that her vast knowledge is so important - it's just the vehicle for transmitting it that is getting in the way.

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hello,

i dont know if this has been mentioned yet, so forgive me for repeating if it has.

suggest to your mom that she check at the local community colleges "continuing ed classes" or community ed

classes. our local cc offers many community ed courses which include computer skills. they even have ones

specifically designed for the older community/ senior student. you are never too old to learn new skills!

we need experienced nurses like her to mentor the newer generation of nurses.

kidsrn

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As an older nurse with rudimentary computer skills, I find that those who grew up with computers don't have much patience with those of us who lived most of our lives another way. To me using a computer is like learning French. I may learn French but I will never be as good at it as someone who grew up speaking French. There are too many things about computers in general that young people think EVERYBODY knows (and everybody who grew up with computers DO know) that people like me who learn in bits and pieces don't know because it is not one of the bits or pieces we have learned. Even then we don't have the background to know this bit fits into another piece seemlessly. Its a hard road learning a second language.

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Ouch....[/QUOT
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This reminds me of a conversation I had with my MIL about my FIL once. She got on my case for expecting my FIL to know something he should have known, telling me he wasn't raised that way. Well, OK, but he's been around for 60 years and spent less than 20 of those under his parents' roof. So what's his excuse for the ensuing 40 years?

My point is this: computers have been important in the workplace since the mid to late 1980s. That's 25 years. Why has your mother taken no steps to keep herself current with the demands of the economy for TWENTY FIVE YEARS? If she expected to be employable, then she should have made sure she had the skills expected of employees.

She needs to take responsibility for finding resources to teach her how to use computers. If her employer provides them, great. If not, search. If she's worried about employers dismissing her as "an old nurse," she should be more worried about them dismissing her as someone who made no effort to stay current in her field.

Wow!!! You do take a scorched earth stance in your reply.

Computers may have been around for 25 years but they have not been a part of nursing but for the last 5 years or so. You have no idea of the steep learning curve required to get up to par with computers because they have been a part of your life forever. This is the same degrading attitude we get for some young nurses. It would be so much better if you helped these nurses. After all you have much to learn too.

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