How are you spending your retirement?

Nurses Retired

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I don't mean your money! :lol2:

I mean; how do you spend your time? What interests, hobbies etc are you pursuing?

And, do you enjoy being retired?

Specializes in Adult ICU/PICU/NICU.

I have been easing into retirement for almost 20 years. I haven't worked full time since 1992 when I drastically cut back my hours from full time to .2 (8 hours a week). At that time I was working adult MICU and had been doing that since the mid 1960s which is very physically demanding work. I started picking up contingent hours in a PICU and later added NICU as the smaller patients were much easier on my body. By 2005 I stopped working any budgeted time and only worked contingent shifts in the PICU and NICU as I simply didn't have the strenth (or patience!) for adults anymore.

I finally hung up the nursing cap for good when knee replacement surgery forced me into complete retirement in August of last year.

It hardly seems like its been a year. I prefer to say that I'm retired from taking care of patients vs say that I'm retired from nursing. Once a nurse, always a nurse!

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Specializes in ER, Urgent care, industrial, phone triag.

I totally agree....once a nurse, always a nurse. I advise family and friends, advocate for them and many others, and read nursing related information and articles all the time. If somebody is in an accident or falls, I'm there! It's in the blood, I swear.

So, truthfully, nurses never retire. We just stop getting paychecks.

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10 more years and then I'm moving on to something else . I'll still be too young to retire completely 10 years from now, but I don't plan on being a nurse anymore. I've been taking care of people since the early 1990s (Man, I'm freaking old) when I was in my early 20s and I've got a half a tank left for healthcare in this body of mine's. It's the 4th quarter, time to D up and take some shots in the end zone.

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https://allnurses.com/retired-nurses-inactive/how-you-spending-232286-page5.html#post3043450

My life has changed in retirement. As you can see we had it planned well. Want to see God laugh, tell Him your plans. In a nut shell. DH dies while we were wintering in AZ. Dog gets lost for approx.6 weeks. DSis breaks ankle, I care for her. House sit for 6 months. Care for Grands for 1 year. Meet a nice guy and eventually move in together. Go to work for him part time. Discover his sec. is a thief. Go to work for him FT. No longer nurse.

Am I glad I retired? You betcha. I got to have quality time with my hubby. We had no idea he would become ill and die. I was able to care for sister when she needed me. I earned a tee shirt that says SPA. On the back it says "Saving Peoples' A$$e$" but spelled out. Believe me, I earned that shirt.

OK, I work almost FT. Pay is negotiable. sometimes negligable. Best news is I don't have to work as hard or long as I did as a nuse. I no longer have to prove competencies, keep mulitple cards and letters after my name.

Both my new mate and I have lost our spouses. We both understand things that few will ever have to comprehend. We are content with our lives. He is planning on retirement soon. I make no plans now for the future. I just want us both to be here to enjoy it and each ohter.

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

am i glad i retired? you betcha. i got to have quality time with my hubby. we had no idea he would become ill and die. i was able to care for sister when she needed me. i earned a tee shirt that says spa. on the back it says "saving peoples' a$$e$" but spelled out. believe me, i earned that shirt.

ok, i work almost ft. pay is negotiable. sometimes negligable. best news is i don't have to work as hard or long as i did as a nuse. i no longer have to prove competencies, keep mulitple cards and letters after my name.

mmmm yeah! go ahead sister testify now that's what i'm talking about, this is what all of us nurses should be looking forward to once we go on retirement. needless to say, enjoying our life's with our loved ones and easy on down the road while our direct deposit retirement check comes in. at this level, i'm making sure when my time comes i'm more than prepared for example i have 2 retirement policies plus the one from my facility. in addition, 3 great investments that don't give me any headaches, and my children's education fund keep growing untouched until their college time. furthermore, i have another emergency account for those life surprises one could call them. following this further, let's not forget that my home and my vehicle is pay for which leaves me with the basic bills like light bill, groceries, phone etc. with that said, this was orchestrated by taking a serious look into my future where i don't have to worry or stress regarding my home or transportation, just enjoy my loved ones and my retirement, and deal with whatever the one above has in stored me. wishing all of you a safe and healthy retirement....aloha~

retirement.jpg

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Specializes in ER.
Bump! I am bumping this thread hoping that you'll get some good responses. I am interested in hearing what people have to say.

I plan to start easing into retirment in about 10 years, maybe a little sooner if I am lucky enough to find a well-paying part time job. My dream is to gradually cut back from full time to part time to nothing over a period of a few years rather than retire all at once.

I imagine myself using that extra time at home to do all the reading and writing that I never get around to doing now when I am still working full time. But I must admit, when I get a little time off now, that's not what I do. I end up just resting and relaxing. I am hoping that if I were working only part time, that I would have the energy and the motivation to do a little work on my writing -- but I don't know for sure if that will happen.

As I said ... I am curious to read about the transition to retirement and hope you get some good responses in this thread.

I'm interested in this too. I plan to retire at 55, so I have to get cracking on saving more and more, since SS won't be a reliable bit to my future!

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

up date, i recently went to bingo yes bingo! with several of my friends and one thing that surprised me was that bingo has gone electronically! yep no more of the paper or dabbing with the color dabbers. having said that, on the last game it was all or nothing. therefore, i purchase 2 extra electronic cards, well i almost had a heart attack since all i needed for the coverall bingo, and for the longest time was g-45 when it showed up on the monitors, i began to shake then my voice quiver but i manage to yell bingo!!!! i won the jackpot of the night for $5,000 dollars. needless to say, i'm placing this winning in my retirement fund :cool:

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I don't know if retirement is ever in my future- I am thinking of doing telehealth or case managment from home in a rural area of the country.

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Today is my first day of retirement! Not sure what to do now that I'm all grown up! I do need to work to supplement retirement and insurance' I just want to work part-time or from home. Any suggestions?

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I am not the best one to ask. I work as an office manager and do nothing related to nursing. My volunteer work is sort of related as I do a grief group but in general I hung up the stethoscope and said Bye.

Just wanted to welcome you to Allnurses and that wonderful time in your life when your choices are actual choices and not the lesser of two bad spots.

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Thanks for the welcome. I do have to work but am having trouble with my resume. I have retired as a nurse educator of 21 years. Do you know anyone who has worked for the retail chains such as Wal Mart, CVS pharmacies giving immunizations? Did they like it?

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Probably the best thing to do would be to ask in the nurses section. Few people would have reason to stop by the retirement area. If you want I will start the thread. i understand you are new. Soon you will be navigating like a pro and starting threads the way you would like.

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