Older nurses...chasing that carrot

[guest974915]

I have been an RN for almost 27 years. My parents were also nurses and I pretty much grew up in and around hospitals. Having worked continuously since age seventeen though (I will be 53 this year), it feels like I've been 'plowing' this field since the dawn of time and I'm tired. I've worked in several nursing specialties (including travel) and nursing has been good to me overall. At this juncture of my life, I am blessed to have a high paying, relatively low stress, union job, but at minimum, must work, another thirteen years. Thirteen more years! I dream of retirement every single day and just don't know if I can make it. I don't dream of exotic vacations or playing 9 holes of golf everyday, I just want to get off the hamster wheel and have my life back. I'm sooooo tired of changing policies, difficult coworkers, workplace drama, heck, I'm really just tired of going to work (any work), period! Just wondering how other nurses at this stage of life do it? BTW, I'm not depressed (don't need a therapist), have many hobbies, can't cut back hours, don't want to precept or join nursing committees, and don't want to try another job.

[Daisy4RN]

48 minutes ago, Davey Do said:

You got the right idea DaveyDo, no point chasing something you will never catch up with!!

joshuamhood.com/stop-chasing-the-carrot/

[Daisy4RN]

1 hour ago, morelostthanfound said:

Thank you all for your responses and great advice! Not feeling sorry for myself as I have much to be grateful for, just stuck in a rut I suppose:)

It happens to all of us, the key is to just keep moving forward best we can!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I'm older than you but plan to work another 5-7 years. I did change jobs very briefly last year but found that I liked being the "expert" in my field and really didn't want to go back to "novice" again.

What I have decided to do though is to use my PTO more liberally. I occas take a day off just because...no reason, no nothing, just because.

I would imagine that you are close to the top of your earning potential for PTO also so maybe take a day here or there just for YOU?

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

19 hours ago, OldDude said:

I hear ya...I'll have to call in sick to attend my funeral.

...and you best have a doctor's note lest you get written up!

[Persephone Paige, ADN]

I worked for 15 years in a moderate pay, but decent retirement job. I'm vested somewhere. Then, life fell apart and I with it. Now, I'm where I should've been at age 21, without youth on my side. It's a battle, but one that I had been gearing up for, for over 5 years. So emotionally and psychologically, I'm in a good place to handle it. The old body, not so much.

If I ever get out of this corner I've painted myself into, I plan to try a school for a boarding school where I live. It's shift work, but the shifts I can choose are shifts I'd ordinarily be awake on anyway. That helps me.

I also really liked the idea of cutting your hours at your main job and picking up a few shifts somewhere else. That way, neither place has too big a hold on you. But, I do realize that may alter the rate at which you accrue hours towards your retirement, if it's union.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I went through similar feelings when I was in my mid-late 50's. But that was back when the Great Recession hit and I realized I was lucky to just keep my job. I had friends who had their positions cut and lived in fear for a couple of years. Fortunately, I held on to mine.

But it was a painful period. On one hand, I did not enjoy my job anymore. On the other hand, I was grateful to have it and fearful of losing it. I knew that finding another job at my age would be difficult. So I just put 1 foot in front of the other and tried to get through each day. Eventually, the pain decreased.

I am now in my early 60's, planning to retire in about 2 years. I found that the closer I got to retirement, the more I kept pushing back the actual date. I found that once I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and actually making the specific plans to retire, I was not as much in a hurry. Working a little longer and earning a little more money didn't seem so bad. In fact, now that I am actually in the midst of the details of making retirement arrangements, retirement seems a bit overwhelming. It seems easier to keep working!

It helped me to cut back my hours a bit ... use my PTO a little more for "me" time, etc. That takes a bit of pressure off and makes life more bearable -- enabling me to stay in the work force a little longer. In the end, the money and benefits I earn by working a year or two longer than planned more than makes off for the slight reduction in money I would earn by working a few more days a year.

[guest974915]

1 hour ago, Persephone Paige said:

I worked for 15 years in a moderate pay, but decent retirement job. I'm vested somewhere. Then, life fell apart and I with it. Now, I'm where I should've been at age 21, without youth on my side. It's a battle, but one that I had been gearing up for, for over 5 years. So emotionally and psychologically, I'm in a good place to handle it. The old body, not so much.

If I ever get out of this corner I've painted myself into, I plan to try a school for a boarding school where I live. It's shift work, but the shifts I can choose are shifts I'd ordinarily be awake on anyway. That helps me.

I also really liked the idea of cutting your hours at your main job and picking up a few shifts somewhere else. That way, neither place has too big a hold on you. But, I do realize that may alter the rate at which you accrue hours towards your retirement, if it's union.

Thanks Persephone Paige-how I can relate! In my late 40s/early 50s, after some significant personal and financial setbacks, I also found myself in a moderate pay position and with very little set aside for retirement. Also like you, I painted myself in a corner and am now trying to play 'catch up'. My problem is, though I am very, very grateful for what I do have, this (staff nursing), is not my passion-my 'light' dimmed quite a while ago. I really want to follow my dreams; non-denominational mission trips, volunteer work... but after working a job 40hrs +/wk, there's not much left.

[HaggardRN]

I hear you and totally get it! I've been nursing for 23 years, but still have 21 if I retire at 67. I vote now by working part time, and I try to work my 2 days back to back so I have fine days off in a row for my real life. ?.

I also have a ton of banked vacation days (my boss just mentioned I have the most on the unit which makes me nervous that I am too expensive of an employee) so I have started talking more time off just because.

On the days I am working, I focus just on my 4-5 patients (PCU) and making sure I do the best I can for them. If I stay clear of the hospital politics I find I like my job much better!

[guest974915]

2 minutes ago, HaggardRN said:

I hear you and totally get it! I've been nursing for 23 years, but still have 21 if I retire at 67. I vote now by working part time, and I try to work my 2 days back to back so I have fine days off in a row for my real life. ?.

I also have a ton of banked vacation days (my boss just mentioned I have the most on the unit which makes me nervous that I am too expensive of an employee) so I have started talking more time off just because.

On the days I am working, I focus just on my 4-5 patients (PCU) and making sure I do the best I can for them. If I stay clear of the hospital politics I find I like my job much better!

Good advice! I think when I get closer to age 60, I will start scaling back my hours. My worry is that I'll somehow lessen my Social Security benefit by doing so. Out of curiosity, do you or anyone know how this works?

[hawaiicarl, BSN, RN]

Wow OP I was starting to wonder if we are soul twins, I am in the EXACT same spot. One of my buddies retires in April and I am SOOOOOOOOO jelly. Like you I have another 13 years of wiping *** to look forward to. yayyyyyy…. I need to find one of those work from home for insurance company jobs someone mentioned. Hmmm wonder what they pay?

Cheers

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

On 2/27/2019 at 2:12 PM, OldDude said:

I hear ya...I'll have to call in sick to attend my funeral.

Okay, you have me beat. I always say I’ll still be working with a walker, yellow fall risk socks, a shiny yellow humpy dumpy bracelet, and a bed alarm attached to the chair by my computer so the younger staff can be alerted when I’m getting up without assistance. However, I have agreed to getting some rest when I’m dead.

[Davey Do]

9 hours ago, llg said:

I am now in my early 60's, planning to retire in about 2 years.