Hi, I'm retiring at the end of January. I was an LPN for 15 years before going to college for my degree in nursing.
I've worked in many different fields, med/surg, Angio/interventional, poison control, etc. I've worked in nursing in some capacity since I was 15.
I'm 65 now and just running out of steam.
But I am terrified of trying to figure out who I am without the structure, support and satisfaction of nursing.
I've heard all about hobbies and volunteering, but at the end of the day, my lack of social connections and activities outside of my career are glaringly obvious.
I'm afraid I'll be depressed (on meds for that for a long time) and just not do well.
I forgot to mention a humorous trick that I use to manage my time and effort in retirement:
I strive to do ONE "adulting" task each day.
At first this seems silly.... "Why stop at one when you could do more?" Well... because I am retired. I can balance getting chores done with enjoying life far better when I set my goals LOW. Certainly there are days when I do more than one "adulting" task, and others when I do none. But when I start to feel like I haven't done enough, I ask "Did I do ONE adult task today?" If the answer is yes... I exhale and enjoy the rest of my day!
Laine: If you simply must torture yourself a little because that's what nurses love to d0, become a CASA. This is a Court Appointed Special Advocate who represents the interest of the kid in abuse and neglect cases that are ongoing. I can't remember how long the class was - maybe 40 hours. Your nursing background will be extremely useful. Most of the volunteers are retired teachers, social workers, psychologists, etc. You will have only one case at at time and must spend at least 12 hours a month physically present with your child, parents, meetings or court hearings. AND, you can still have a few nights of month of tossing and turning in worry about your case:) I was so worry about retirement because of my adrenaline addiction but I got over it very quickly and right now these really are my "golden" years. There's lot of volunteering opportunities if you need that much structure, but the important thing is that you can fine tune your commitments to leave time for more fun.
I’m not retired, but I was a stay-at-home mother when my son was an infant. My husband worked long hours, so it was a LOT of unstructured time. What saved me was having a detailed, written schedule for my days. 7:00, wake up. 7:15, shower….10:00am, leave for the grocery store… 2pm, catch up on emails. I literally scheduled my entire day in 15-minute increments, including things like "11:15-11:45, surf internet." I would recommend this for at least the first 4-6 weeks of your retirement. It will keep you from waking up that first day and thinking "Why even get out of bed? I have nothing to do anyway." Eventually you will find commitments and places to be, but it won’t happen overnight, so you need to plan for too much free time at first.
Thanks CommunityRNBSN, I think that's great advice!
No:) You would miss the glories of retirement. Getting up at the same time every day is just good sleep hygiene. After that, it's YOUR day. You can decide how long to spend on breakfast reading the newspaper, having 2nd cup of coffee. It's not as if you are going to become a sloth unless you have a rigid schedule. Rigidity is for prisoner or others who must be cared for. This is your time to determine how YOU want to live. You only have to meet your own expectations .....for the first time ever. Enjoy every minute because time flies whether you're enjoying it or not. That's just a property of aging.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Some of us need a routine, like Community's, otherwise I am a little lost.
For example, if I don't feed the chickens as one of my first chores of the morning, I don't remember if I fed them that day, as I feed them twice a day. The same thing with my workouts- I do one in the morning and another in the evening.
My retirement is a gloriously boring routine and I love it.
Fact is, just this morning, the front page of a newspaper that only I read had headlines about boring:
I too am retiring, probably around the 1st of March. My husband, who is a respiratory therapist, works night weekends, in a small hospital and is at the front lines of Covid. He retires on February 22, after his last shift. We both have been in health care since 1979 which is when we meet - over mucous (it's a long story). I have been away from direct patient care since 1983. I was ICU which I absolutely loved, but it changed so much. I was so burned out when I transitioned to transfer coordinator and then data entry which is what I'm doing now.
I plan to do an online course for medical transcription. I need to use my brain. Reading, exercising, learning tai chi, learning to speak Spanish, garden, learning to do some DIY projects (I'm the most uncrafty person in the world!), etc. I also don't have a big social circle. I plan to check our the senior forum that was mentioned here. All in all, I'm just tired. I worked night weekends when I did patient care and my sleep is still screwed up. Hopefully, when my husband is retired, we can have normal bedtimes.
Congratulations on your upcoming retirement! Both you and your husband have put in countless hours of hard, but important work. You deserve a restful, satisfying, low stress retirement. It sounds like you have a good plan in place. I am interested in that mucous story! Love to hear more.
Laine
25 Posts
Thanks GrumpyOldBastard!
I appreciate the advice & encouragement.
I have to say that since joining this group, .my anxiety has gone way down. Thanks Everybody!