80 year old nurses.

[IveGotAnIdea]

I've recently taken early retirement from the NHS after 37 years because I realised that I had given it my all and was burned out and also because I thought it would give a younger person a chance to progress.
Over the years, I have worked with many nurses and AHPs who were in their late 60s and 70s, who had retired and returned to senior roles and quite frankly did bugger all, they would openly joke that they were there for the social side! Turning up with freshly baked goods each day and then wanting to chat about their many exotic holidays or grandchildren for an hour. They invariably proved to be a huge distraction while Rome burned all around. Their sick records were also so much worse than younger staff.
There are currently hundreds of young nurses struggling to get their first job or working as carers while desperately applying for every job going, others leaving to go abroad because of the lack of progression opportunities.
Am I being unreasonable to think that the NHS needs to stop encouraging clinical staff to stay way past their best before dates and maybe even introduce a mandatory cut off age.
If they miss the hospital environment there's always volunteering.

Age has nothing to do with if people can do a nursing role effectively. Plus no one retires to ‘give the young ones a chance’ what a load of tosh. You sound bitter @IveGotAnIdea - if you were that concerned you would have raised your observations with management while you were still working. Did you?

what a beautiful haiku

I am not sure why you feel sorry for younger staff. They have their entire life ahead of them and are actually much better placed when it comes to job opportunities because of the ageism you displayed here. I don't have the luxury of leaving my job to make space for a youngster. Not to mention that I am highly qualified, quite good at what I do and am valued by my team. Am I going to jump on every opportunity to go above and beyond? Not really. That's the job for the young. But I do what I am contractually obliged to do and, shock horror, may even bake a cake occasionally.

The state pension age is only going to go up, so a most people will have to work for all of their 60s and many will have to continue into their 70s . This is particularly true in the public sector where the occupational pension tracks the state pension age.

How you support people who will probably need more time off for sickness and more reasonable adjustments is a challenge for government/employers/society. It's a real concern for union for prison officers, who are also expected to work until 70. Firemen only have to keep going until 60 to get their pension.

The rest of your post is judgemental guff based on anecdote.

I think people who have mentally retired but not actually left is a problem in all industries. They're very difficult to manage, but you can't blame them if they can get away with it.

this post has it.
.it isn't about age, it's about competency.

if the hospital is full of elderly people booking sick leave for their secon foreign holidays a year who do nothing but gossip and give out baked goods, the issue is way beyond "only employ people under 60!"

Am I being unreasonable to think that the NHS needs to stop encouraging clinical staff to stay way past their best before dates and maybe even introduce a mandatory cut off age.

Given less than 1% of nurses are 70 or older you’re clearly talking rubbish.

Google states there are between 11000 and 12000 nurses at or over the retirement age of 66-67.
That would give a lot of young nurses the chance to progress in their careers.
Honestly, give me a break re they need the money. They really don't, most have benefitted from cheap housing and mortgages. The young need the money.
To the poster who said I sound bitter, I'm really not, I'm looking for ways to help young people progress, given the situation in France and Europe is say that it's sensible to consider all options.
Also yes, I've reported bad practice whenever I've encountered it. Nothing gets done partly because the managers and HR don't have the capability to deal with it.
Proper managers, with degrees in management, not overly promoted clinicians, would help.

Yanbu.
There are a lot of people in that generation clogging up various industries. "What would I do all day!" I don't know, volunteer? Get a hobby? Potter around the house you bought for 50k? Use your free bus pass?

Idk how a nurse on a hospital ward could get away with not doing their work. Their patients would complain or potentially die?!

I've had loads and loads of RMNs and a lot of them were 60-70 plus. DK about 80. But they were just as capable and professional as the younger looking ones.

Very young people can get serious/chronic diseases and need time off. It's true it is more common in older people, but most of us know some 80 year olds who can outrun teenagers. So it depends on the individual-it shouldn't be about age. I know a few nurses and they say having a range of ages and experiences is vital for learning stuff, and even in a role so important, the socialising matters.

Without exception, the laziest nurses I worked with were all middle-aged women, who had climbed the ladder to Band 6/7/8, and considered actual nursing to be way below their pay grade.

Band 6s and 7s (which a lot of the older ones are) spend a lot of time in the office.

YANBU however I’d be more worried about 80 year old surgeons, or in fact surgeons of any age who are happy to operate on patients during Ramadan having had no food, or more worryingly, drink of any kind all day.
(And any other religion which mandates fasting and withholding all liquids over an extended period of time, though I’m not aware of any)
There are a significant number of these doctors with a lot more at stake for patients than nursing care by octogenarians.

Yes personally I think the statutory retirement age (66 / 67) should be the cut off for a physically demanding role because patients deserve best practice care and I don’t think someone past that age can deliver that. It is strenuous and physically demanding. Which then adds stain to the younger staff who have to pick up the slack.
Perhaps other roles are available that are more appropriate that should be considered after 67, if the employee wants to continue working.
My relative went from nursing to catering on the wards - at the same hospital- after retirement age and it’s a better fit for them personally while still wanting to work. Of course a pay gap there which should be considered.

They can't introduce a mandatory cut off age. That's age duscrimination!

If it's a physically demanding role maybe we should just have men doing it as they are physically stronger on the whole? That reasoning is the same as yours ... glad you are not an employer, you'd get taken to the cleaners!

I moved over to NHS podiatry at 50 because my back was knackered after a lifetime of nursing. I plan to work to 70 if my brain stays switched on but Ill go very part time at 67.
I just could not do those long shifts any more.
I have worked with a few 80 year old nurses in nursing homes and rather felt they should be retired.

There will be nurses still working at age 66 -67 as they can't yet get their pensions. Some will be able to claim their NHS pension earlier but many can't due to changes to NHS pensions
You may think they should have planned better but for many when they first signed up their NHS pension age was 55 or 60, but has since changed to 67 for many. Also there are other factors that they did not think about such as divorce, a partner too unwell to work etc
Many will have had the advantage of being able to get on the property ladder sooner, but they are a generation that were encouraged to take interest only mortgages who the found out half way through the term, that the life insurance for this they had being paid for years, were not going to pay out enough. This forced many to have to change to repayment mortgages and have to extend the term of their mortgages. This was down to miss selling and market crashes

Every nurse will have individual reasons or needs about how long the need or want to work. There are very hard working and competent nurses of all ages, that form the majority of the profession. Unfortunately there will always be some that don't work as hard or act as professionally, but that is not about age and more management of behaviour

If she is 75 now surely she could of retired earlier. I find it hard to believe everything a 75 year old still doing a HCA job!

Ah ok, because they're more senior so do more admin based tasks? In that case I guess they could slack off without it being noticeable to patients.

That seems a shame but surely there must be people of all ages who are just inherently lazy? I guess the ones who have patients all the time can only get away with being a certain level of lazy before health can be endangered.

At least the old’uns won’t be taking maternity leave,

Like so much, this comes back to management and them being conspicuous by their absence. Age is not an issue, lack of competence is, not doing the job you are paid for is. If research is to be believed, we are going to need workers of an age where their approach to work is very different or we ate going to struggle as a society. Pensions and the cost of living is also hugely going to impact how long you need to work, let alone want to!!

Whilst there may be a few 70 year old nurses knocking around who wouldn’t be able to pick someone up off the floor, there are far more 30/40 year old nurses who are morbidly obese and completely unfit.

I’m at the hospital a lot with my Sister and the younger nurses/physios/radiographers etc. are almost all very overweight, I am overweight too and couldn’t do a physical job at my age of 60 but when I watch them slowly trudging around I do get a bit judgy.

It would depend on their role i used to be an RMN and i worked in both Dementia inpatient care and acute in patient care
On ocaasion i have had to be part of a restraint team it was hard enough in my 20s i dont think i could do it now at 53
So i cant see how somone 70+ would manage
Without it being unsafe for everyone .