Generation Y Nurses and Graduate School

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

This is the season when nurse leaders across the country select new graduates for residency programs and other clinical roles. Many nurse leaders echo the sentiments of an email I recently received from a frustrated manager. She wrote, “at best, this generation is eager to take on new tasks, learn new skills and have the constant stimulation that comes with healthcare today. This can be a great asset. But what I am also seeing is that my millennials want to jump after 6 months to a different unit because they are bored. They are barely out of residency programs and are leaving to go to CRNA or NP programs – often in violation of contract commitments.”

This manager is not alone in her observation of this trend. There is current data to support that this is the plan of many new graduates. In a 2015 nationwide nursing survey of close to 9000 nurses conducted by AMN healthcare, more than half of all nurses surveyed planned to return to school in the next 1-3 years. The numbers were significantly higher for nurses under 40 where 45% planned to go back for a master’s degree or doctorate in nursing. There was a high level of awareness and interest in new emerging roles especially advanced practice. Clearly the IOM Report on the Future of Nursing has been a key driver in this new trend. Young nurses today feel more empowered with their BSN to take charge of and plan their careers. Graduate programs across the country are experiencing increased enrollments as an outcome of these trends. We need well prepared nurses to help lead healthcare as we move into the future.

As with any new trend, there are often downsides to what is happening. Nurse leaders are now beginning to worry about stability in their frontline nursing workforces especially in acute care environments. Significant numbers of new graduates are reaching a basic competency level, and then are either leaving to return to school fulltime or reducing hours to attend part-time. Specialty training is quite expensive, and the costs cannot be recouped within short periods of time. Experienced preceptors burn out when they are constantly orienting new staff who stay only short periods of time. This is coupled by the retirement of ever larger growing numbers of Baby Boomer nurses, who have often provided stability on their units over many decades. Some nurse leaders are asking me whether this is our future – a revolving door of frontline nursing staff, many with few years of experience. These leaders are working hard to retain nurses in part-time and per diem roles while they are in school because their skills are needed. The impact of the staff churn on safety and quality will likely be the subject of research if the trend continues.

There are no easy answers for leaders as to how to best manage the changing workplace landscape. Many senior nurse leaders tell me that their goal will be to keep these master’s educated nurses within their systems to assume new roles that will emerge. At the frontline level, we may begin to see changes in the model of care delivery in response to a staff mix with fewer experienced nurses. What is true is that this is trend, and by 2050, more than half of the workforce will be our millennial nurses who view their career paths in much different ways.

Read to Lead

AMN Healthcare. (2015). 2015 Survey of Registered Nurses: Viewpoints on Retirement, Education and Emerging Roles. Available at http://www.amnhealthcare.com/2015-RNSurvey/