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Age stereotypes towards younger and older colleagues in registered nurses and supervisors in a university hospital: A generic qualitative study
Author(s) -
Helaß Madeleine,
Greinacher Anja,
Götz Sebastian,
Müller Andreas,
Gündel Harald,
Junne Florian,
Nikendei Christoph,
Maatouk Imad
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1111/jan.15021
Subject(s) - baby boomers , diversity (politics) , context (archaeology) , qualitative research , psychology , nursing , focus group , content analysis , stereotype (uml) , medicine , family medicine , social psychology , sociology , paleontology , social science , anthropology , economics , demographic economics , biology
Aim This study aimed to identify and compare age stereotypes of registered nurses and supervisors in clinical inpatient settings. Design Generic qualitative study using half‐standardized interviews. Method Nineteen face‐to‐face interviews and five focus groups (N = 50) were conducted with nurses of varying levels at a hospital of maximum medical care in Germany between August and November 2018 and were subjected to structured qualitative content analysis. Results Reflecting the ageing process and cooperation in mixed‐age teams, nursing staff and supervisors defined similar age stereotypes towards older and younger nurses reminiscent of common generational labels ‘Baby Boomers’ and Generations X. Their evaluation created an inconsistent and contradictory pattern differing to the respective work context and goals. Age stereotypes were described as both potentially beneficial and detrimental for the individual and the cooperation in the team. If a successfully implemented diversity management focuses age stereotypes, negative assumptions can be reduced and cooperation in mixed‐age teams can be considered beneficial. Conclusion Diversity management as measures against age stereotypes and for mutual acceptance and understanding should include staff from various hierarchical levels of the inpatient setting.