We Stood on Their Shoulders: A Generation of Nurses Retires

Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations. George Bernard Shaw The graying of the American nursing workforce seems statistically inevitable, and this reality has already started to affect the workforce in numerous ways. It is estimated that within three years the four generations of nurses (Seniors, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y) will be reduced to three generations. The Senior generation of nurses that make up approximately 7% of the nursing workforce are slowly walking out of hospitals and long term care settings into full retirement, consulting, or part time work. As the race for the recruitment of the next generation of nurses intensifies, we must not let that overshadow the importance of paying tribute to the generation of nurses now retiring and the need for the remaining three generations to tap into their wisdom and experience. For many years after the Baby Boomers joined the nursing workforce, they stood on the shoulders of the Seniors who led the way. The Baby Boomers will step down from the Senior nurse shoulders and inherit the generational crown, baton and the title of the senior working generation.