GENERATION Y NURSE: WHAT DO I NEED IN THE WORKPLACE?

Dear Madam, Generation Y nurses, born after 1980, have been a major concern in nursing today. They are demanded to be a future leader because of the increasing number of Baby boomer nurses who begin to retire, which lead to the lack of nursing leaders in the country. It is anticipated that by 2020, more than 50% of the nursing workforce will be fulfilled by Gen Y nurses. However, the recruitment to replace the retiring nurse leaders is very challenging. Gen Y nurses are considered as the future of nursing leadership, but some questions are raised whether they will be interested and/or prepared to step into leadership roles. On the other hand, there also has been another challenge to keep this generation Y nurses to stay longer in their nursing workplaces. Therefore, it is required to identify exactly and precisely what will retain them in the profession in the long term, which is a big challenge for nurse leaders today. Some literatures mentioned that, the generation Y nurses need to be challenged; and certain needs must be first addressed at the start of employment, which consist of: 1) Work Life balance. Gen Y nurses will not view work as their “life,” rather they will favor flexibility in the workplace. They are significantly less likely to be work-centric than previous generations. The Gen Y nurses were clear what they needed for their personal lives, and needed to be able to spend time with family and friends as well as taking time to relax. But, they did not wish to take work home