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A group of Filipino internationally educated nurses (IENs), who entered the USA as legal immigrants to join their families, applied to take the registered nurse licensure examination. After evaluation of their school transcripts, the state Board of Nursing rejected their application because the clinical laboratory component of their nursing courses was not taken concurrently with the theory portion of the course. They were deemed ineligible and mandated by the Board of Nursing to retake these nursing courses in an accredited program of nursing. It should be noted that the additional requirement of concurrency of theory and clinical courses was a problem in this state, which is in keeping with states’ rights.

This article reviews the differences of four distinct generations that make up the workforce, each with its strengths and distinct characteristics. Examined are how these generational differences show themselves in the workplace and strategic relationships that have the potential to improve recruitment and retention. Also discussed are the various roles that exist along the patron-protege continuum, and strategies for building and nurturing productive relationships across these roles that promote the potential for generation liaisons.

Professions progress through an expected evolutionary process. This consists of expanding the scientific base, creating technical workers to share in the essential mission of the field, standardizing and up-grading education for entry into practice, and moving forward with specialization. Nursing s progression has been spotty and incomplete, largely because of the influence of external communities of interest, and the fact that nurses have resisted and personalized decisions that are necessary for future generations. For nursing, education for entry into practice has been the most contentious issue in this scheme of professional evolution. For almost 100 years, nurses have debated "entry", but moved to little planned change. Rather, nursing has been swept along by a host of social and educational circumstances that had little to do with nursing. The result has been a myriad of programs with graduates used interchangeably in the real world. This absence of consensus within the discipline of nursing causes consumer confusion, seriously compromises our ability to serve the public, and is intimately associated with the nursing shortage of 2002. What is adequate educational preparation for entry into professional practice for the 21st Century? Agreement on this issue is an essential step towards a preferred future. This paper is intended to raise issues, and to stimulate discussion around these issues, rather than to provide answers.