Ageism: Discrimination Against the Elderly in Healthcare and Nursing

The term ageism alludes to the mistreatment and discrimination against the elder generation. This article explores the negative implications of ageism in the healthcare sector and its impact on the nursing profession.

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Ageism
Student’s Name
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Ageism
The term ageism alludes to the mistreatment and discrimination against the elder
generation. As a consequence of the media’s continuous and extreme propagation of the notion
that being a youth is associated with beauty, the older people are often viewed as unnecessary
and non-existent (Chrisler, Barney & Palatino, 2016). The pervasiveness and insidious nature of
ageism in the healthcare sector cannot be underestimated since at times it becomes extremely
challenging to prove. This negative bias is not only prevalent in the health care sector but also in
other professions such as law. Prejudicial treatment is associated with a multitude of negative
implications including disempowerment among the elderly population. These implications,
which are at times understated but far-reaching, can impact the nursing profession in a multitude
of ways.
As mentioned earlier, ageism is associated with a myriad of negative implications
including social isolation, poor life quality, and lowered self-esteem (Cameron, 2015; Day, 2014;
Levy & Macdonald, 2016). Notably, this is an utter contradiction to the general embodiments
and deliverables of the nursing profession. The nursing profession should not serve to propagate
discrimination against the elderly or cause them to undergo low self-esteem and isolation.
Instead, the profession should seek to create a better place for the elderly, where they can interact
with society and lead fruitful lives. Besides that, evidence has over the years linked ageism to
poor quality of medical care (Nelson, 2016). With a consistent increase in the senior citizens’
population worldwide, the nursing profession and the health care sector must endeavour to
engineer new strategies that might serve to deliver quality care. Generally, ageism in the

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healthcare sector threatens service delivery to the elderly patients, which is a sheer violation of
the nursing ethics in light of the fact that one of the key tenets of the profession is to make life
more comfortable for the patients.
Viewing this issue of ageism from a different lens, precisely how it affects the nurses
themselves and not the patients, it is notable that the older nurses also feel unwanted just like the
older patients. It is easy to overlook the fact that the health care industry functions pretty much
like the profit-oriented businesses. The health care industry is consistently looking for ways
through which it can cut costs and, at the same time, increase its revenues. On a sad note, one of
the methods through which the industry attempts to reduce its operational costs is through
forcing retirement among the older nurses. Considering that the older nurses are relatively
experienced and well renumerated compared to the younger generation of nurses, an employer
might opt to take the route of, for instance, hiring two newly graduated nurses whose total
salaries might be equal to that of one older, experienced nurse. Although some might not think
so, this seems to be a cruel and sad way of sending the older nurses home. It is yet another form
of discrimination and mistreatment towards the elder generation. The problem is further
exacerbated by the fact that there exists no true and effective method of measuring ageism,
meaning that this vice will often go unnoticed. Even in cases where it is noticed, one of the
arguments often presented to counter the same is that the older nurse is overstressing the
situation or being overly sensitive. Eventually, this will undoubtedly contribute to early
retirement, job dissatisfaction, and reduced morale at the workplace.
Having forced the older nurses into retirement, either through subjecting them to job
dissatisfaction or other unwarranted techniques, the older generation patients are left with no one

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who understands their situation. Sarah Kagan and Melendez‐Torres, through their 2015 nursing
journal entitled “Nursing is an ageing profession caring for an ageing society,” argue that the
older patients prefer to be attended to by nurses of the same or nearly same age as themselves.
The authors proceed to argue that as people age, their bodies also undergo a series of changes,
and some of these changes are not easy to discuss, unless with people in their age group (Kagan
& Melendez‐Torres, 2015). Therefore, patient experience can be improved by having older
nurses who have a better understanding of the needs of older patients. The dwindling of the older
nurse workforce as a consequence of discrimination will not augur well for both the patients and
the health care sector in the long-term.

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References
Cameron, S. (2015). A Study of Nurses' Attitudes Toward Medical Ageism.
Chrisler, J. C., Barney, A., & Palatino, B. (2016). Ageism can be hazardous to women's health:
Ageism, sexism, and stereotypes of older women in the healthcare system. Journal of
Social Issues, 72(1), 86-104.
Day, T. (2014). About medical care for the elderly-long term care and eldercare. Retrieved from
http://www.longtermcarelink.net/eldercare/medical_care_issues.htm
Kagan, S. H., & Melendez‐Torres, G. J. (2015). Ageism in nursing. Journal of Nursing
Management, 23(5), 644-650.
Levy, S. R., & Macdonald, J. L. (2016). Progress on understanding ageism. Journal of Social
Issues, 72(1), 5-25.
Nelson, T. D. (2016). Promoting healthy aging by confronting ageism. American
Psychologist, 71(4), 276.