GAMECOCK
The CONnection News and Views from the University of South Carolina COLLEGE OF NURSING
June 2013
Millennials: The Future of Nursing in Good Hands
Dean Andrews with her mother, Rudy Olson and daughter, Jamie Andrews.
Inside This Issue Students’ Corner...............2 CFHC..................................3 Faculty & Staff Notes.......4-6 Upcoming Events..............6 Alumni & Development....7-9
Send Inquiries or Newsletter items to: Jan Johnson jnjohnso@mailbox.sc.edu
On the way to a “girls” weekend getaway last week, my mother and I reflected on Joel Stein’s recent article in TIME magazine, Millenials: The ME ME ME Generation. We were about to meet up with four Millennials (my daughter and three nieces who range in age from 19 to 25 years), for a “girls” weekend at the beach. Several labels describing Millenials (persons born between 1980 and 2000) soundly resonated with my mother (the Silent Generation) and me (Generation X) about our “girls”. Entitled? Yes, they do seem a bit entitled at times. Narcissistic? Well, they do post new self-portraits on Facebook on a daily basis. What will be our future with Millenials in charge? In regards to our profession, how will Millenials impact the future of nursing? While enjoying my girls’ generational retreat at the beach (who pressed me to have more balance), and reflecting about our students and recent graduates, I have taken the position that Millenials are well poised to lead our future in nursing. Millenials are close to their families, civil minded, and are optimistic. They have a great sense of humor, are progressive thinkers, inclusive, and tolerant (“no one left behind”). In fact, they are the most diverse generation, with 40% being African American, Latino, Asian, or racially mixed. Growing up in the age of computers, the Internet, cellphones, social networking, and multimedia proliferation, they are well connected, adaptive, technology-savy, and have extensive networks. They work well in teams, are multitaskers, and process information quickly. They are very practical and results oriented, with a strong focus on purpose and meaning in the work that they do. Millenials are also well educated (and in dire debt as a result). In regards to our profession, they are the first generation of nurses educated with research-based, best-practice methods and outcome data. The nursing profession needs new knowledge brokers and champions who will challenge our current conventions. The majority of us agree that health care is in dire need of reform. With a growing evidence base for our practice, and new generation of leaders, who better to lead than our profession than Millenials? Let’s support, challenge, and continue to nurture this generation. They would have it no other way! Jeannette O. Andrews PhD, RN, FNP, FAAN Dean and Professor j.andrews@sc.edu
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