Generation Y Perioperative Nursing

This paper will explore the lack of recruiting and retention of Generation Y nurses in perioperative nursing and how this effects future OR leadership in North America by a) exploring why Generation Y is unique from earlier age groups b) How to best lead Gen Y, and c) how this impacts the future of perioperative services’ leadership. Many authors have examined one issue, but it has yet to be seen both issues contained within one paper. This analysis of the current literature focuses primarily on resources from the nursing profession in the Western world and the author’s experiences as a practicing Generation Y perioperative nurse.
Members of Generation Y (Gen Y) were born between 1980 and 2000 and will form approximately 50% of the nursing …show more content…
They place greater on value work/life balance and do not particularly want to do on-call OR shifts and if they do, they want a schedule that is flexible to their needs (Sherman 2015). Gen Y also prefers to work in teams, have a lower tolerance for workplace bullying and is more liable to leave a workplace if dissatisfied. Sherman (2015) lists many ways in which Gen Y is its own classification such as their self-confidence in abilities, sensitive to criticism, not in awe of authority figures, seeks recognition for accomplishments and does not want to pay dues to climb the career ranks. Other generations found in the unit such as Baby Boomers, who are known for their work-centric lives and strong work ethic; and Generation X who believe work should be fun and job security is not a ‘sure thing’, have much different views on work which creates a challenge for today’s nursing managers to appropriately lead such a varied …show more content…
Due to the lack of Gen Y nurses in the OR, many organizations are worried as to who will fill these important roles within their ranks. In a survey done by Sherman et. al. (2014), up to 64.8% of perioperative nurse leader respondents plan on retiring by 2022 and 72.2% of those respondents have 10 years or more of OR leadership experience. In a 2012 article by Pat Patterson, she states that 9/10 perioperative nurse leaders are concerned about who is going to take over their positions upon retirement and 68.4% believe that the role’s scope needs to be reevaluated in order to become attractive to Gen Y nurses (Sherman et. al., 2014, p.188). A survey done by Patterson (2012) showed that 60% of respondents did not have a succession plan in place and 70% felt unsure if an adequate pool of potential replacements existed within their ranks. Younger nurse leaders are intimidated by the enormous scope of a perioperative nurse leader which often includes managing OR nurses, recovery room staff, sterile processing departments, preadmission and endoscopy clinics to name a few (Patterson 2012, Sherman et. al., 2014). The grueling work hours are a deterrent to younger leaders as this infringes on their desired work/life balance (Knudsen, 2014). Due to the high financial uncertainty of healthcare funding in both Canada and US, many

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