Generations In Healthcare

With the consistent rise in culturally diverse populations in the United States, it is expected that the healthcare field will continue to become more diverse not only in its patient population, but the health care provider population as well. Diversity in the workplace involves both understanding, and relating to people who differ from one another. Not only is the nursing workplace composed of individuals with diverse cultural beliefs, but it is also composed of a mixture of generational cohorts that has an impact on the creation of this diverse network (Andrews & Boyle, 2016). Diversity provides many benefits in healthcare care including improved quality of care, enhanced cultural competence, and improved health and health care research (Murray,

Furthermore, I will choose the group in which I belong to and explain how I think that I fit with the assessment of that generation. Lastly, I will choose another group that I do not belong to and explain how those from my group can learn from the other group, and explain how that group can learn form mine.

Four Generations A generation is defined as an identifiable group of people who share birth years, age, location, and experience the same significant events within a given period of time (Andrews & Boyle, 2016). Each distinct generation shares similar experiences and their values and attitudes tend to be homologous. There are four main generational cohorts including the veterans, the baby boomers, generation

Generation X does not focus on teamwork; however, individuals that belong to this group like to manage their own time, set their own limits and complete their work independently (Andrews & Boyle, 2016). With being so different, there are things that the millennial’s are able to teach generation X, and things that generation X can teach the millennial’s, especially in the workplace. A major characteristic that the millennial’s can teach to generation X is the positive outcomes of working as a team. Individuals from generation X tend to diverge from the thoughts of teamwork; however, there are many known benefits that come along with working as a team. Communication, especially in the healthcare field, is one of the most important aspects that is involved in patient care. The patients that we care for each day rely on us to formally communicate information across the array of teams that are caring for them, and to work efficiently together to improve their health. Team work reduces safety risks, improves patient care, and increases patient satisfaction when everyone is working collaboratively together which is something that the millennial’s excel in (Price, McGillis, Angus & Peter, 2013). In comparison, generation X can teach the millennial generation the importance of independence. Individuals in generation X excel in independence whereas the millennial’s often rely on not