Where are all the young nurses?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

i'm in a specialty where most of us are somewhere past 45, and it sure is good to hang out with someone who gets it when you mention hot flashes. on the other hand, we have to make the specialty sexy enough for the new entrants, the 40ish young'uns.

DeLana_RN, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

i'm in a specialty where most of us are somewhere past 45, and it sure is good to hang out with someone who gets it when you mention hot flashes. on the other hand, we have to make the specialty sexy enough for the new entrants, the 40ish young'uns.

are you in hospice, too? i'm actually one of the youngest nurses - at 48! our youngest rn is in her twenties and much younger than the rest of us (most of whom are in their mid-50's to mid-60's, and some even older prns!) but i guess the reason for that is that not too many young nurses are interested in this specialty (at their age).

in my last hospital job, however, i was one of the grannies - many new grads; however, the floor (which shall not be named, as i'm trying to forget it) was so horrible that few stayed beyond 6 months, the earliest time they could transfer out of there.

friends in icu tell me that they get lots of new grads (because they can't find enough experienced nurses!) but few of them plan to stay; many have plans to just do their requried year before moving on to crna school (that's the latest craze, much more popular than np. but the bottom line is: they don't want to stay at the bedside.)

so i agree, in a few short years - for reasons discussed above (e.g., no one hiring new grads in many areas) - there will be few nurses under 50 practicing. but the ones that do will be very lucky - $$$$, sign on bonuses, all these things we older gals fondly remember from better times

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 30, 2012

So I agree, in a few short years - for reasons discussed above (e.g., no one hiring new grads in many areas) - there will be few nurses under 50 practicing. But the ones that do will be very lucky - $$$$, sign on bonuses, all these things we older gals fondly remember from better times

Nah, give me a retention bonus for sticking around and not going after one of them thar sign on bonuses. Take care of the nurses that have stuck around, not the new ones who are there for the money and to use the hospital as a stepping stone to "bigger and greater" things (although you wouldn't catch me dead in CRNA school- I hate oral secretions!).

OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

Youngest on my floor. I'm 23.

NP Sam · Apr 30, 2012

I'm 22 and I'm the youngest but there were several coworkers who began here at my age. I love the different age range I have... I learn so much (and laugh at some stories I hear) :)

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

I think the majority of people I worked with at the hospital were in their 20s-early 30s. I could count on my fingers the number of people on that staff who were over the age of 40. If you work in a place where there aren't a lot of young nurses, it's probably because there is low turnover... which would be a good thing, IMO. The reason the staff at this hospital was so young was because they had no idea how to hold on to their staff. I was the most experienced nurse on my weekend with 4 1/2 years experience.

yourstruly · Apr 30, 2012

I have worked as an LPN for nine years. I have always been the youngest nurse on staff. Now, I am 32 years old and still the youngest among the LPNs, RNs, and NAs on my floor(that's about 45 people). Where are all the young nurses? Who is going to be working with me when all the older nurses retire? When we discussed this at work, we speculated that the young people are getting in, finding out what it's like, and getting out fast.

ahmm we're here, but they wont hire us. so....

RNChrissy4 · Apr 30, 2012

We are here but as many people have said most places want 1 year of acute care experience, but if no one will hire you how do you get that experience?? I looked for 6 months before i found a place to take a chance on young (25) inexperienced me!! I think there are also alot of new nurses who get a glimpse of what bedside nursing actually is and run for the hills, there are times i want to run for the hills myself!! I know ill def. be going into an NP program at some point, i just want 3-5 years of experience first.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

It is almost the opposit where I work with RNs at least. Some shifts the oldest nurse is 35, there have been shifts where the oldest rn or lpn was 26. There are a couple of aides and nurses in their 40s and 50s but not too many.Those are the ones always applying for insurance/case managment/ clinic jobs .

eatmysoxRN, ASN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

I graduated at 20. Found my first job in a hospital at 21. Everyone else was atleast in their 50s. Usually older.

Kendel.G · May 1, 2012

I will be 20 when I graduate NS :-D

MStar · May 1, 2012

We're here and ready to work. Please hire us! Some of us, like me, would really love to do bedside nursing and actually know what it entails and won't run for the hills after a year. So we would really appreciate a chance :)