Problems with the aging nurses

I'm sure this nurse would love to retire. As others said, she probably doesn't have a choice.

A bit of a story that I have to share. I worked with an LPN that finally retired at 74. She only worked that long because she needed the insurance. She had a bad heart, was sob with heavy lifting, but again, she had no choice.

Since we worked in a team, I would do all the heavy work and let her do the less laborious stuff. Yeah, it made more work for me, but you know, I gladly took it on. I was in my thirties and could easily handle it and I know she thankful I cut her some slack and didn't expect her to work as hard physically. She had excellent assessment skills and could spot someone circling hours before. I learned so much from her, even though she couldn't lift patients. We made an excellent team. She died a year after she quit. No nice retirement for her. She spent that year sick and died of HF.

ETA: Here's to you J****. Thanks for everything you taught me. I miss and think of you often. :cheers:

Just remember this when you get pregnant - and don't want to take care of the MRSA pt, or the pts that are heavy to lift because you can't lift well right now. Or the pt at the end of the hall because it is too far for you to walk. Or the pt with c-diff because the smells bother you when you are pregnant.

Every age has its own problems/limiations. That is why it is so important we work as a team and help each other out.

Now, I am not a nurse, as of yet and I am not exactly classified as an 'older' person at 22. However, I would like to share an instance that would relate to the topic in question. My grandmother is 72 years old; she lives and works on her farm (all 30 acres of it). I live in a different state and the time I get to visit is quite limited, but I digress. This woman gets up at 6:00 am every morning to do her daily routine of feeding/watering the farm animals and generally any other thing that needs doing. She has a Home Health aide that comes and works with her (thankfully) and she wouldn't have it any other way. Her own daughters (who literally live 5 min. away) try to talk her into getting rid of her farm and just resign herself to a life of being taken care of. should she do this, I firmly believe she would just give up. Some people identify with their occupation so deeply that they simply don't know anything else and giving it up would be to give up on themselves. My hat goes off to people like that; they (generally) come from a different time and have very strong values that have been largely made secondary concerns to subsequent generations.

SOme older nurses can no longer do the physical work but some younger ones WILL NOT do it. So it really comes down to people. I am not going to retire till the economy improves or I can get 100% of my SS check, whichever comes first. The younger ones will have to wait till I am through.

You and your gazelle-like co-workers could chip in and buy her a Hoverround? I haven't seen too many charge nurses over 73 who take an assignment, to be honest. The one who did was a human dynamo who made the rest of us look like slackers. She made us nervous.

If you have to pick up her slack on a regular basis, I would leave age out of it and focus on the required physical abilities alone. Sometimes you'll find people griping about their pregnant co-workers manifesting the same thing.

Tokmom- dammit ya made me cry . . .there are times when a post is exactly what you needed to hear. Yours was that one for me.

Made you cuss too, lol. :hug:

You would have loved J. She was so cool! Dang... she knew her stuff.

"There but for the Grace of God Go I".

Someday you will be that nurse. Unable to retire because the profession you have devoted your life to repays you with no pension, no benefits, no nest egg. Forced into poverty on a system you have paid into your entire life that provides you with enough to either be hungry of have medical care and medicine and live below poverty level. Forced to try to rebuild that nest egg that took a life time to accumulate.......that you were forced by the government and you employer to put into the stock market to have it lost to the click of a mouse because of the greed and amoral behavior of a select wealthy few and corrupt government.

Maybe she is Stuck working because she has raised her children and paid for them to have a better life now to have nothing herself. Maybe she has outstanding medical bills from a spouse, is raising her grandchildren. What bothers you most? That they value her presence and you somehow feel they don't value yours? What makes it ok for you to feel she should go and you have the right to stay? It is not your place to say. I am sure administration knows of her capabilities and limitations and have accepted her on those terms.

I agree with Leslie......you agree to lay off us old bats and we will lay off talking about the lazy, self-indulged, selfish generation.[/quote

TESTIFY !!!

I'm a young person, myself, but I don't see how anyone can fault older folks for staying in the work force. The economy sucks so getting a "cushier" job isn't an option. Many lost their savings in the first stock market crash. Some are helping to support children or grand-children who can't find jobs because of the economy.

Yeah, aging probably does hinder their ability to adequately perform certain physical tasks. But there are also plenty of young, new nurses who feel that their RN status makes them above the physical aspects of the job; or, what I've seen more of personally, the physically competent middle-aged nurse who feels that having "put in" their 5-10-15 years means that they shouldn't have to help lift or clean patients.

hello community!

while this post may seem a little insensitive for some, others can totally relate. i shouldn't have to verbalize "age has nothing to do with the ability to do the job". but, as of recently the aging nursing population has refused to step down from the high paced work place environment when they clearly can see they're no longer fit to run with the 20-late 50's crowd. this is not to say some beyond their late 50s aren't able to hold their own, but i have a charge nurse who is well into her 70s who refuses to stand too long, assist patients with immobility issues, hell**excuse me** she refuses to work with patients with anything cardi related.

the question is: when will nurses accept like with any other field you have to know when your body has had enough of the? while we need nurses, of course, are we that desperate that we place the burden on others to ration with the census?

actually, this post seems a lot insensitive.

probably the aging nursing population has refused to step down from the high paced work place environment because they are unable to find one of those cushy desk jobs. (could that be because entitled, lazy twenty-somethings are going for the cushy desk jobs because they don't want to work nights, weekends, holidays, clean up poop or maybe even touch patients? let's not go there -- that would be just as ageist as your post!)

the thing is, i know great nurses of every age. and i know not-so-great nurses of every age . . . sadly, more of the latter are way younger than me. i can't stand too long, i have mobility issues of my own and i have various health issues that come with age . . . . i also have a wealth of knowledge and experience and could teach a new nurse a lot. i do as much as i can, and my colleagues are kind enough not to ask me to do certain things unless it's necessary. if it's necessary, i suck it up. i stood for hours last week when my patient was coding . . . and paid for it in pain the next day. but i did it.

however, my colleagues are just as kind to those pregnant nurses who don't want to lift, walk all the way down the hall, go into an isolation room or clean up anything smelly because it makes them nauseated. and the mothers who want off a few hours early to attend junior's soccer game.

i've been a nurse for 35 years and never been pregnant long enough to need accomodations . . . but i've certainly taken up the slack for pregnant co-workers who cannot -- or will not -- do their share of the work. and i've taken up the slack over the years for older co-workers who can't lift or stand for long periods of time. i've taken up the slack for co-workers with sports injuries who can't lift or stand. i may need more help now than i did 30 years ago, but dammit, i've given all the help my colleagues needed over the years. i don't feel guilty at all that i'm slowing down. i can still do my job, and i do it much better than many the new nurse who spends the entire shift in the break room or on facebook.