Older Nurses

[nursecat]

I like "OLDIES BUT GOODIES" i graduated in 1964. Work 0.6 on a busy Ortho Unit. Hope to hear MORE. Nursecat

[shemariah412]

Hi!
I'm shemariah412 and I am a "Oldie but a Goodie". This is my 1st post on this site. I am actively ready
to reactivate my California RN liscence, that expired in May 2007. I have become disabled and haven't
worked since September 2005. I am currently trying to find free CEU sites, and courses, to satisfy the Ca RN boards requirements. I am also actively searching for state and federal nursing and education grants,to become a CNLC[Certified Nurse Legal Consultant. Many Blessings to all!

[Mikeslo_Imc]

All post are really nice and i agree with button .

I like Nightengales.

[PWhite]

Bad mood today after receiving a written correction for a note that I did.

The correction requires that I submit an incident report for not inserting an 18F/10cc Foley catheter.
I did insert an 18F/5cc catheter, the balloon of which was inflated with 10 cc of N/S.

45YEARS.... and I am getting this kind of stuff to deal with???? BAD MOOD!!

[OBNurseJeanne]

Isn't it amazing? SSDD (same sh*t different day) as we used to say. Don't let the turkeys get you down, PWhite.

[reesern1963]

Bad mood today after receiving a written correction for a note that I did.

The correction requires that I submit an incident report for not inserting an 18F/10cc Foley catheter.
I did insert an 18F/5cc catheter, the balloon of which was inflated with 10 cc of N/S.

45YEARS.... and I am getting this kind of stuff to deal with???? BAD MOOD!!

Was the supervisor who chewed you for it toilet trained yet?

[copperrose]

I'm an "oldy" too (graduated in 1979) getting ready to take a refresher course and I hope that the teacher is at least older or understanding of older nurses.(She has a first name that was common when I was younger but I don't think too many babies were given that name after the 70's) Most of the course is on line so that I won't have too much interaction if the teacher is problematic. The 80 hour clinical is with a preceptor at a local hospital (Hope the preceptor is OK too)

[copperrose]

Can't imagine why a sup would give you a bad time over the balloon size of a foley PWhite. Sounds like she's got real problems herself.

[amberiris2]

A week to retire after 40 years of non stop nursing work, I feel like a book of many topics of life experiences. The journey was hard and long ,especially when entered the era of computarized patient care.I enjoyed every experience.I established my ideas for improvement in all working areas I served.Must of my practice was in public health,ambulatory care,trauma unit, and veteran's care.
Happens that I survived and learned from all obstacles .The "sibernursing" patient care is the present and the future.
Let the new RN's keep their presence necessary for quality patient care that no machines can separate.

Carmen

[kmrbrn]

Happy Retirement! We appreciate your knowledge and expertise...

[gettingwiser]

I am 61 and worked in nursing for 20+ years, one year ago I lost my job to the younger generation, I have not been able to find full time employment since and am concerned that my age is the reason. I am looking for site for older nurses.

[OBNurseJeanne]

I found this in my inbox yesterday. The new bullying in nursing. It came from an unsolicited nursing web site but it made a lot of sense to me. Those of us here are computer savvy but this appears to be a problem with some older nurses and this is what they are experiencing on the job:







Nurse Bullying… Same Name, New Target (Author: Susan Kieffer, RN, MSN/Ed)

We’ve all heard the phrase that “nurses eat their young” and unfortunately many of us have experienced it as well. I remember as a new nurse, I was so excited to try out my new skills on my very first assignment of patients, making sure that they all received their personal care and my undivided attention. This effort was met by a very loud (and public) “Would you quit coddling them!!” by my RN preceptor. Such was my introduction into the sometimes ravenous world of nursing.

However, there is a new area of bullying on the horizon that was virtually nonexistent a generation ago. As technological advances multiply exponentially, and new computers, gadgets, and gizmos appear on our nursing units on a daily basis, there is a new segment of the nursing population that is experiencing the berating and belittling that used to be reserved for the brand new nurses… and that is bullying directed toward our seasoned, technology-challenged, veteran nurses.



When I was working in the area of home health, at first I found the older nurses’ struggles with technology comical, in a way. The administration had recently introduced a new computer charting system, and so the task began of not only teaching the new system, but also teaching the seasoned nurses how to use a computer in the first place. I had to laugh out loud when I heard one of our 25-year veterans say, very loudly from the next office, “Double click? Double click? What does THAT mean??”



Unfortunately, this sometimes comical situation can have disastrous results. As I heard the exclamation from the other room about double clicking, I could also virtually see the rolling of the eyes of the younger nurse trying to teach the older. The younger nurse in this situation was very patient and calm in her teaching, but I could just imagine how the situation could deteriorate under different circumstances. It has become a fact of our society that the younger generation is losing patience with the older. Instead of looking at our elders as treasure chests full of wisdom, they are viewed as costly… costly to our time, patience, and even our health care resources.



Why is this situation so potentially disastrous? Here’s an illustration with which we can all identify. Under normal circumstances, we can drive our cars effortlessly and without errors. We can draw upon our training and years of experience to guide us through the process effortlessly. However, how about when there is a police officer driving behind us. Suddenly every thought, every movement, even every reflex becomes a conscious act, and our nervousness and agitation can cause us to make mistakes that we would not normally make. The same holds true for a veteran nurse who can, under normal circumstances, handle a load of seven patients with the ease that is only brought about by years of experience and training. However, when this same nurse is placed under a microscope, belittled and harassed by those who may be a little more knowledgeable in certain areas such as technology, he or she can make mistakes that would not otherwise be made. Just as a graduate nurse can make unnecessary mistakes when constantly harangued by established nurses, the same can hold true for our treasured seasoned nurses. No one can function at their best level when they are nervous or agitated. In the profession of nursing, however, a nurse who is not functioning at his or her best can result in dire or even deadly consequences.



What is the solution? How can we retain our nurses who have a wealth of experience to share, but who work among less patient, less admiring younger coworkers? The solution needs to lie with the management and with the initiation of a no-tolerance policy against bullying, berating, or belittling in any way, regardless if it is directed at the newly hired or those who are near retirement.



We nurses hold precious lives in our hands. Should we not encourage one another and, at times, bear up our coworkers to function at their best as we all move toward the goal of excellent patient care? Perhaps we can all find the same voice of compassion toward one another that we direct toward our patients.




About the Author: Susan Kieffer, RN, MSN/Ed., is a fulltime faculty member with the Kaplan University School of Nursing online. Her current position involves orienting and training new faculty members in their transition to online education. She is a busy pastor’s wife, worship leader, a mother of two, a grandmother of six, and pet owner of a Great Dane, Pomeranian, a Himalayan cat, a snake, and other multiple critters. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in E-Commerce.

[maryjopalella]

Have any of you been applying for new jobs?

[Bassnbari]

To getting wiser, have you considered getting advanced education to make yourself more marketable? i did that when I knew i would need more letters after my name. Very glad I did too That does open doors to different types of employment. I do think age is a reason we don't get hired as easily. The ones doing the hiring are younger and do not have the respect we had toward those older than us when we were their age. it is a different time. Bassnbari

[oldntiredRN]

I hope this thread stays around- i am finding comfort in knowing I'm not the only old(over50- 30yr expierenced) nurse on the planet. I share the same dilemas/disasters as all posted above- especially the older/seasoned nurse finding it impossible to find another hospital bedside position after a job loss. I had a full time position on a tele unit- lost my job because I stood up for a young nurse being bullyied by the others who were 5-7 years out of the starting gate. I was out of work for 8 months until I found a perdeim job on a tele unit went through all my savings, and per deim didn't pay the bills so I took a temp job with the health dept- the per deim manager found out about it and decided to make my life miserable and capitalized on the age factor and diminished computer skills. so bye bye per deim position- the manager has very little floor experience but has those letteres after her name- her pathophysiology knwledge is so lacking she didn't know the correlation between potassium and dialysis or what a hand held nebulizer tx was( i said HHN to her and she asked what that was) but boy can she keyboard type and quote "time stamping". My daughter was admitted to our ER for crohn's excaserbation - her hgb was 7.0 and her heart rate was hitting 217, I questioned the young ER nurse who told me to ignore the monitor, it was wrong. I like what OB jeanne quoted from the nursing instructor- the young want to throw us out because we are hunt and peck typers but in their young hands some(s) are going to die. they havent got that total intergration of all the body systms/pathophys yet or there is some of their switches that aren't turning on as quick as they should. I can remember back in my day when some of the doctors called me "ace" now I feel like an old shoe. I can still get an IV better than most CRNA's. I am leaving nursing, I have had it, my bank account can't afford it anymore and I am at the point where I don't care who will teach the next generation- let them fall on their face- and they will - they lack something we had- a respect for our elders/experienced nurses- no matter what we thought of those old nurses, we respected them for their wisdom and recognized the situations in which we needed their expertise and guidance.We didn't go off 1/2 cocked and arrogant. We recognized how far they came in wages, and benefits and the general taking of nursing forward . these younger nurses don't realize that it wasn't too long ago nurses were still mopping floors and cleaning beds for the next admission.