Occupational Health Across Generationally-defined Age Groups in a Cohort of Hospital Nurses

Abstract

In the popular press and in the public imagination there has been much interest in the concept of generational differences—the idea that one’s experiences might vary as a function of the timing of one’s birth and other key life events relative to historical markers or periods. While research findings on generational differences in the workplace, including occupational health, have been limited and inconsistent, nurse administrators have noted important occupational health differences in work-related experiences of the nurses they supervise. This secondary analysis of cross-sectional data on 1,146 direct care staff registered nurses in non-administrative roles enrolled in the Boston Hospital Workers Health Study (BHWHS) in 2014 examined the relationships between being a member of one of three generationally-defined age groups (Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials) and indicators of three major categories of health. Physical (measured by body mass index, pain presence and severity, absences and limitations related to pain, and occupational injury), psychological (measured by psychological distress), and overall work-related (measured by work limitations) health variables were analyzed using regression modeling controlling for individual and work-related characteristics. Overall, this sample of nurses from two major teaching hospitals in a single city, which was relatively homogeneous in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity, reported generally good health and serious symptoms or limitations were rare. With a few notable exceptions, poor physical health was more common in older age groups and psychological symptoms were worse in the younger age groups in this cohort. However, the findings should be interpreted cautiously and may reflect a number of selection and survivor biases. Further research is needed to replicate these findings before drawing broader conclusions about age or generation as influences on nurse occupational health. As the empirical literature stands, it appears that energy would best be focused on nurturing a culture of health, emphasizing risk factors for various health problems, across all age groups, rather than in tailoring health promotion efforts for nurses by age or generation.