Older nurses

[poopylala]

I notice that most nurses now are younger rather than older (less than 35 years old). Where have all the older nurses gone? Do they tend to work in certain units at your hospital or work in clinics?

[Bizyfe0415]

Our Postpartum/Women's Service area has 5 nurses over the age of 50, both shifts, 15 total nurses. One (me) will retire next year and pass off my part time slot to a current same age full timer. Another is part time also. So we are still here, working for the youngsters who are still drinking that water and getting pregnant!!!

[jrbl77, RN]

As a 60 year old RN, I am no longer doing direct patient care. I do have several friends that are,most are counting days until they can retire. My friends and I were brought up as young nurses to always get the job done and done correctly. It was ingrained in us. We also did lifting that today us done with mechanical lifts. I left the bedside when the scripted report and conversations with patients started. Being told what to say to patients and when,didn't feel right to me.

Of course much as changed, but you can't put a time limit on holding someone's hand as they pass away or find out they have a terminal disease.

[heartsgal, ADN, RN]

I can only speak for myself and my unit. I work a busy MS/OBS floor at a small community hospital in the Houston burbs. At 52 and only 13 months, I have pain in my hips I have never had before and I came from acute rehab and transferring orthopedic and stroke pt's constantly. I think it's because some days I spend so many hours on my feet, charting in spurts standing up. I wear Brooks Glycerins, get new ones every 8-9 months, have custom orthotics and recently started wearing compression sleeves also, because my legs/feet hurt so much at night after 13-14 hours:arghh: We have several older nurses in their 60's, but most work nights and have for many years. We have 1 nurse in her mid to late 60's on days and she is what I would call built of hardy stock. She works 3, 12's in a row and I have no idea how she endures it! While I respect her immensely and know she is a top notch nurse, that will not be me. I've already started looking for alternatives that do not tax me physically and mentally.

[NanaPoo]

We haven't gone anywhere. We're right beside you. I'm apparently old now at 45 but I pickled myself at 29 so I still look like you pretty young things!

Actually, this old hag is in school nursing complaining about all the young punks these days.

[K9lover, ASN, RN]

It is a Peter, Paul and Mary song.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

Everywhere I've worked, the age gap has been more like OP is describing. I'd say the vast majority of my coworkers are under 40, with at least half under 30.

I think bedside nursing is just too dang demanding, and I don't mean that in a condescending way. I'm 29, I've only been a nurse for four years, and my back already hurts almost every day. Nobody can do this forever without a ton of help. Most of the "lifers," shall we say, on my unit - the ones that haven't transitioned to management roles yet - have had at least one joint or back surgery. Several have had multiple spinal fusions/knee replacements. I've worked with people that openly wore their back braces on top of their scrubs. Several say their Oxycontin and Baclofen are the only things that get them through a shift and I watch them pop pills all night. Legal, prescribed ones if you're curious, with zero indication they are altered in any way.

No thanks! I will be getting out of nursing before that fate befalls me. There are many things in this world that can make money, but the back I have now is the only one I will ever have, and it's not worth giving up for a paycheck.

Not to mention, raises in nursing are terrible. I work with a nurse with 35 years experience and she only makes $9/hr more than I do. NO THANKS! That much experience in any other field, I'd expect to earn at least double the salary of someone with less than five years of experience, but that's not how nursing works. It's horrible how nursing treats its experienced workers.

[AnnieOK76]

We're probably in some patient's room. No desire to do case management, admin, or any stuff like that. Just turned 65, will be working a while longer. ?

[SouthpawRN]

Meet Florence '''See See''' Rigney, America'''s '''Oldest Working Registered Nurse''' - NBC News

[BedsideNurse]

I had to laugh a little when I read this question because the other day I had to go up to med surg to retrieve something they'd borrowed and I never go up there so I hadn't realized until I was up there poking around that almost everybody up there looked like a baby.

Sooo young; mostly early 20's to mid 20's. I headed back to ICU where we have just a handful of young people; literally one person in their 20's, two in their 30's, and everyone else is 40's and 50's, several in their 60's. We look really old compared to med-surg. I thought to myself *the docs probably think they are walking into the nursing home for nurses when they walk in the unit.* Lol. I've worked in a couple ICU's that were a lot younger, but it seems there are more long termers in ICU than the floors. I've known a lot of older ICU nurses that decide PACU or home care is a more reasonable way to make a living. OR: either that's where "old" nurses go, or that's where people go and stay forever, I'm not sure.

[Fly Guy JB, MSN, RN, EMT-P]

Love it! I didn't start nursing school till I was over 40 (darn near dead according to the OP) at 50 and change I work the ED and now flight nursing. I worked (and work) more than the younger Nurses and, in most cases, run circles around them. Maybe it's just my work ethic, maybe I'm just a Viking...

[snowebelle]

I worked ICU Hematology until 15 months ago. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, I had three major surgeries ( bilateral radical mast with lymph node biopsy, tissue reconstruction - a great idea but more debilitating, followed by a knee replacement/partial femur for spontaneous osteonecrosis of the femur) in 13 months. the deconditioning ( after light duty and PT) led me to Case Coordinator for transplant. After 27 years on the floors, probably about time.

[dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I]

The University of Michigan did a study to identify the occupations with the highest rate of non financial retirement. Registered Nurses was number one, Heavy Machine Operators was second, and transportation (truck drivers) was third. The study is 60 pages long and very dry reading, but can be found on the university's web site.

A rehab doctor told me that he sees many nurses and construction workers, and they have similar injuries and needs!

Where have all the old nurses gone? They're disabled from the strenuous work they did. By my mid 50's my back was shot from arthritis. I loved ER nursing and always thought I'd work till the day I went to punch out and a coffin was waiting for me.