Workforce bridges gap

Baby boomers are not babies when it comes to the nursing workforce.

The boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, are one of four generations that comprise the field of nursing. They work alongside the veterans, those born between 1922 and 1945; Generation X nurses, born between 1965 and 1980; and Generation Y nurses, born after 1981.

Differences among generations are characterized by more than just age.

“We view the world through our generational lens, so it’s difficult to put ourselves in another generational mind set,” said Susan Lacey, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, director of the Bi-State Nursing Workforce Innovation Center.

Lacey plans to present her research in the University of Kansas Nursing School’s continuing education course “Unleashing the Power of a Four-Generation (4-G) Workforce” on March 13.

“There’s definitely a difference between the nurses who live to work and Generation X and Y’ers who work to live,” Lacey said. “Really, neither extreme is healthy.”

Lacey said she hopes to help all nurses become cognizant of how other generations think.

Veterans grew up with rotary phones, and started their careers with handwritten and face-to-face communication.

Baby boomers grew up with touch tone phones, and while most now own cell phones this generation does not accept cell phone calls at work as easily as their Generation X and Y co-workers, said Becky Hulett, RN, BSN, director of transplant and nephrology services at Research Medical Center.

Hulett trains nurses in leadership at Research about the generational differences that exist in the workplace.

“We just kind of review the different generations,” Hulett said. “The veterans and the boomers see the importance on policy and procedures.”

Nurses in Generation X and Y are more likely to challenge policy and procedures, Hulett said.

Nurses in Generation X and Y are less likely to stay at one job for 20 to 30 years than the veterans and boomers who served before them.

“They are going to want to change jobs,” Lacey said.

Generation Y nurse Shawna Vanleeuwen, RN, has switched jobs since she graduated in 2004.

The 25-year-old started her nursing career at the KU Hospital and moved to Research Medical Center last August. Vanleeuwen serves as a manager in the medical center’s transplant department.

The nurses Vanleeuwen supervises are baby boomers and veterans.

“It’s definitely a challenge because I get ‘You are as old as my child; you are as old as my grandchild,” Vanleeuwen said. “I do find that when I want to make a change I can’t just come in and say, ‘This is what we are going to do.’”

Vanleeuwen said she tries to collaborate with other nurses when changes need to be made.

“I find that works the best,” Vanleeuwen said.

Hulett has advice for nurses whose generational backgrounds clash.

“There is one strategy that really stands out in my mind. It’s called carefronting instead of confronting,” Hulett said. “Carefronting is, I think, a softer version of confronting.”

Hulett uses the term to describe a less aggressive form of confrontation.

One issue of contention among nurses of different generations is the concepts of work ethic and entitlement.

Baby boomer nurse Karen Sluder, RN, BSN, CPN, said some younger co-workers do not realize how hard nurses in her generation had to work to get where they are today.

“They just don’t seem to have the work ethic that the older people do,” Sluder said. “Our generation seems a lot that we plan our life around work, where they plan their work around life.”

Generation Y nurse Sarah Schwent, RN, BSN, said she feels like she has to prove herself to baby boomer and veteran nurses.

Schwent graduated from Research College of Nursing in June and went straight to work in Research’s cardiac telemetry unit.

“The younger nurses have to prove themselves,” Schwent said.

Schwent worked in the cardiac telemetry unit as a nursing student, which she said helped build rapport among older nurses.

“When I went off orientation they had known me a little more,” Schwent said.

Schwent recognizes the advantages of the multigenerational workforce.

“Most of (the older nurses) want to share their experience,” she said.

And younger generations also enhance the nursing workforce.

“I like working with the younger ones because they keep you on your toes,” Sluder said. “It helps me stay on top of things.”

Sluder said the younger nurses are more tech savvy, which helps the entire unit.

Recognizing the benefits and challenges of the four-generation workforce can enhance productivity, Lacey said.

Lacey advices all nurses to become friends with a nurse outside of his or her generation.

“If you learn to know that person you are so much more likely to appreciate what they bring,” she said. “When you have a relationship with someone it just makes all the difference in the world in how you interact.”

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