Retired Nurse's...

I have been a nurse for 19 yrs, and went from med surg to ICU, and found my home in ER. I loved ER nursing, but I retired within the last 2 years, and I don't regret it for a second. I had let the BS and the administrative crap and the changes get to me, and now I'm stuck with my cardiac and BP problems and all the bucket load of meds to go along with it.

Anne

I'm resurrecting this post to say Thank You for talking about this. I have volunterily retired myself after 32+ years of nursing; I'm 53. Last year I had a nervous breakdown partly brought on by the stress of my job and family ( I have a severely handicapped 14yo and a DH disabled by stage 4 lung disease. I'm all caregiving, all the time and it nearly killed me). I was hospitalized for 8 weeks in the past year and I've been on short term disability for much of the last 12 months. I cannot go back to nursing if I want to keep my mental health.

I would like to work again but my doctor feels that in order for me to stay stable I should work no more than 16 hours/week. My employer has said I have to come back full-time or quit(*I'm a school nurse) There is no possibility of working part-time. My disability insurer has mentioned vocational re-training. I'm not sure what I want to do, but I've thought about learning massage therapy. I don't know that I'd make a ton of money, but it would give me pleasure to work with people who need my healing touch. I feel terribly guilty for abandoning my career, but my career is no longer good to me. It's a toxic environment and even though I feel bad about leaving, I no longer find it enjoyable or rewarding.

I retired @ 62 after 41 years of nursing . I became very ill with rising blood pressure and panic attacks. I have had very stressful jobs over the years and I think my nervous system had enough. We did all kinds of tests to make sure that I didnt have an adrenal tumour or other problems. My doctor said "Can you retire?" You system just cant seem to take it anymore. So I did. I lost 62 pounds and got healthy again.
One of the things I did 10 years ago was to go to Massage School and get my license. Over the years I did a bit of massage. Right now I am busy. People come to me because they feel safe and I understand their individual medical problems. I have many older patient with multiple medical problems . They feel that massage helps them function better and walk better and be in a better frame of mind. So between Social Security , my retirement and massage I am doing well. I have less panic attacks and my b/p is down to normal on lo dose antihypertensives. I think some of us an handle stress for long periods of time and there are others that need to stay away from the stressful situations. I miss being a nurse but I dont miss the way my body was reacting. You may be able to pick up some perdiem nursing if your current employer is unable to accommodate you. You may be able to approach them to see if you could job share your position. I know they want the continuity but having 2 nurse do this job may be just what this position needs.
Best of luck to you. Feel better. Take care of yourself as we know as caregivers if the caregiver is ill then nothing can get done. So excercise eat well and relax. Get a massage if you can afford it. One thing about being a massage therapist is that you can find someone to do massage trades. I have been getting massages for the past 10 years and it really helps.
Warm Regards
Paddlelady

Anne, take care of yourself. We only have this one body. It is amazing how our bodies react to our emotions. I hope that you are on a good excercise and healthy eating program and are able to relax. It took me 5 years to get to the point of being able to handle stress. Nursing is an amazing profession but they really dont prepare us in school for the psychological stress that can occur to the nursing professional. I wish you luck in your quest for health and hopefully get off some of those medications.


Warm Regards
Paddlelady