Retired Nurse's...

Do I reget retiring from nursing. No I do not . I was ready 10 years ago but had a family to support. I was tired of all the stress made me ill. Very ill. I have worked 40 years in stressful situations it took its toll on me. I am 62 and have transitioned to massage therapy. My clients feel safe with me as they are aware that I am a nurse and understand many of their diseases. They feel safe with me. I do miss some of the learning but there are other things to learn in this world. So I have to recondition myself to learn other things that are not related to the medical world. I can take deep breaths now and am getting my personal power and health back. I get to excercise every day and it feels so good. I am learning guitar. Getting kayak and ride my bike again. Read books and knit. Finish building my house and play with my dog. I am happy.

Hello Praiser, sorry for not noticing your thread before today!

I'm 57, turning 58 in 4 months time.
I retired 6 years ago. I was quite young as far as retiree's go.
Regrets; hmmmm, in the early days I did question my decision at times. However, as the years have rolled on, no. I'm forever glad and grateful to be retired.
While I completely support those who desire to, or are able to, work "forever", I think each of us must do what best suits us and our lifestyle etc.
I absolutely do NOT miss the workplace nonsense, the back stabbing, the politics, the heavy workloads, ungrateful and unappreciative patients/family member's, managers, administrators, the list goes on.

I think as with most things in this life journey, there comes a time to make changes and move forward. For the most part, I loved my nursing career. I feel proud and glad to have served as a nurse on this life journey, and now I'm grateful to have these years for more time for me.

I have no regrets involved with retiring from full time nursing. I am about to turn 60 and retired a year or so ago. Now I work on call. This is great. I work when I want. People are happy to have me come in and help out. I get to float where needed and am getting new skills I either lost or never had. Care does not change but the way we provide it certainly has.

I have a full live outside nursing. My DH, my darling dog, and I make an active family. I am glad to have retired when I can do and still want to do many things.

I agree with paddlelady, the stress of work for 40 years had taken its' toll and I needed to retire. It was the best thing possible.

I retired two years ago at the age of fifty. I was able to do this because of being a workaholic with no life and working overtime and holidays anytime the supervisor asked me to. Which was all the time. I was single, no children, no life, no balance and thought the hospital would close without me. I just knew I had to save the world. That was very foolish and I am happy to have gotten the chance to live a real life.

I racked up a lot of money this way which I wisely saved and invested. That was the only smart thing I did during those years. Now I live off the dividend checks that come in each month and travel and enjoy the life I finally got when I quit.

I do not regret leaving the profession. What I regret is marrying the job and not having a life when I was younger. I lucked out however. I made good money and invested well. I also met a great guy ( at work...where else) and we married six years ago. Between the both of us we have enough to not have to ever work again so we are enjoying life while we still have to good health to do so.

My advice to you is to live each day and enjoy the now. It is not selfish to put yourself first. Tomorrow is not promised. Develop a sound financial plan and stick to it. You will be glad you did later in life. Trust me on this.

I am 75 years old and will be working my final scheduled shift on June 10th in the PICU. I will remain on the call in list until August, but my critical care nursing career will pretty much be over in a few short weeks.

What to do in retirment? I'm taking a family vacation to the grand canyon this summer before I get the new knee. Next summer, I hope to go to France to learn the language and improve my French cooking.

I'll never give up nursing completely. I certainly don't want to work in an ICU with a cane, but I may do some volunteer work in a clinic for the needy a few shifts a month. What has kept me young at heart is knowing that I'm doing something good with my life, keeping a good sence of humor, and treating others the way I would want my loved ones to be treated.

Best to you,
Mrs H

Hazel, that is awesome!!!

I'm still working, just switched to a lower stress hospital and unit! And a shorter commute. I'm 63, plan on working til 67.

There must be a Hawaii nurse among us. Quoting brother IZ whom I knew as a teenager.

Paddlelady

Hazel,

Congratulations on your long term commitment to the nursing profession and your positive outlook. I didnt last as long as you and never intended to but I do admire your staminia .
Best of luck in retirement. Remember we never really retire to move on to other things in this life. Our minds need that variation to keep out neurons regenerating. Sounds like you have a nice plan.

Paddlelady

No, I do not regret retiring from nursing. Yes, I miss my NICU patients and most of the families. I miss the girls I worked with and the fun times we had and the closeness that it all brings. I do not miss being pulled to adult units, the mountains of paperwork required of us on top of the patient care, the docs with attitudes, the working on major holidays and every-other-weekend.

I will always be a nurse, but surely do no regret retiring.