A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO MANAGING THE MULTIGENERATIONAL WORKFORCE: SKILLS FOR NURSE MANAGERS

By Judith Lower

146 pp., HCPro, Inc.: Marblehead, MA, 2006, $29.00, paperback.

Review: This is a timely and relevant workbook written for middle and senior managers working in healthcare. Content is written in an easy-to-understand format and provides 3 contact hours of nursing continuing education. Lower discusses the 4 generations currently working in nursing; these generational groups are described by a variety of titles, Lower referring to them as the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y.

At the outset, Lower provides an overview of each generation and includes a historical perspective with key societal events and family values that impacted each generation's formative years. This overview is helpful in that it provides a context for each generation and is helpful in understanding and accepting each generation's uniqueness.

In the remainder of the book, Lower discusses management topics such as staffing, schedules, performance reviews, learning styles, etc. that can be contentious when bringing diverse generations together. She identifies what each generational group wants and needs to give them job satisfaction and concludes each chapter with strategies to help the manager with knowing how to deploy each generational group for the betterment of the work environment, and provide for job satisfaction.

This is a good resource book for managers looking for help leading their multigenerational staff.

Patricia Emery, MSN, RN

Director, Nurses Christian Fellowship USA, Bluffton, Ohio.

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