Generational Approaches to Current Nursing Issues: How Younger and Older Nurses can Coexist‪.‬

Today's workplace is the home of several generations of nurses. Each generation shares some characteristics but also has many characteristics distinct to their generation. Creating a work environment where older nurses feel appreciated and younger nurses feel welcome is a challenge. This article explores the basic characteristics of the two major age cohorts in the workplace at this time: the Baby Boomers and the Twentysomethings. Current nursing issues are advanced with insights as to how each of these generations would approach problem solving and management in today's healthcare chaos. Differences and similarities areshowcased, and ideas for future workplace harmony are identified. This discordant tug-of-war between two distinct generations is driving both of them toward anger and frustration. Can two, three, four generations survive and thrive in the workplace at the same time? The answer is ... what choice do they have? This article is aimed at helping nurses who find themselves in an intergenerational work environment to not only endure each other, but maybe actually enjoy and celebrate their differences and their similarities. One small step toward peaceful coexistence might be to encourage some understanding of the irritations which both groups equally inflict and endure.