Millennials, anyone from the age of 25 to 40 years of age, represent the largest portion of the current and future workforce in the world. The majority of current nursing faculty is comprised of baby boomers. As systems and environments change in healthcare, there is a call for nurse educators to be transformative in their ability to address the needs of millennial nurses. There is an emerging awareness that the use of traditional teaching methods, based on their own nursing education and experience, is not the best fit for educating today’s nursing students. This disparity is often a cause of frustration and discouragement for both groups. Nurse educators cannot afford to continue to educate and to lead in the same way they always have. Accepting these differences in learning and practice while embracing new teaching methodologies is key to a successful teaching/learning milieu.
Objectives:
The goal of this literature review is to better understand the unique educational and leadership needs of the millennial nursing student and new nurse. The acceptance of the need to change teaching methodologies allows for nursing faculty to engage students in an optimal learning environment, while providing role satisfaction for the faculty member. Fresh teaching approaches along with specific strategies for implementation will be presented that can be used to accomplish this much needed change This intentional education will aid nurse educators and nurse leaders to work more effectively with this population thus setting the student up for success in both the nursing education experience and in future employment in a nursing role.
Results:
An overarching search of major databases for peer reviewed literature provided 58 articles regarding teaching and leading millennials. From those, 23 were chosen that related specifically to the millennial student. Typically the student has come from a parental-type environment of: comfort with challenging authority figures; requiring praise and reward for doing the minimum; expecting quick promotion; demanding to have work-life balance; being more individualistic rather than group oriented; having the ability to use technology at all times without recourse; and wanting their supervisors to care about the individual on a personal level. The literature search findings provide strategies for nursing faculty and nurse leaders to adapt to the millenial by: integrating technology as a teaching/learning tool; encouraging students to journal their experiences for later discussion; changing teaching methods within a given session frequently by adding simulation, group discussion, patient case discussion rather than lecturing for an hour; providing immediate feedback in real time; modeling professionalism with technology use, dress, and behavior; and being explicit when describing expectations.
Conclusions/Implications for Practice:
The graying of the nursing workforce is calling for a paradigm shift in regard to what is needed to provide meaningful entrance into the role of the professional nurse for the millennial workforce. The use of targeted strategies for nursing faculty to engage their millennial students include: incorporation of communication technology such as the use of texting, podcasting, and social media; presentation of real-life modeling of how the learned nursing interventions fit into a holistic and realistic plan of care for patients; and an introduction of how organizational commitment is attained through loyalty. The use of these teaching/learning strategies will smooth the transition from student to nurse within a new work culture. This call for change among nurse educators and nurse leaders will improve the ability of experienced nurses and novice nurses to build meaningful relationships while improving role satisfaction for both.