jrbl77

I received employee of the month at a small town hospital. I was considered somewhat of an outsider since I wasn't from the town. It came as a total shock to me! I didn't know how to respond. I cried. By this point I was well into my nursing career. Probably at the 30-35 year mark, and old enough to be most of the staff's mom. It was wonderful and I keep the paper in an envelope of cards and notes I received during my nursing career.

My story is very similar to yours. I practiced as a RN for almost 42 years when I called it quits earlier this year. I remember doing the same things, drawing up chemo in the med room assisting with inserting peritoneal dialysis caths in the treatment room, hanging the hospitals first TPN and chest tubes changing from glass bottle set ups to the plastic pleura vacs. I was lucky enough to work with a great team for my first 29 years of nursing. I had 2 nurse managers in those 29 years. Our floor was the place to be if you were really sick and not in the unit. My co workers were like a second family. We watched each other get married and have kids. Unfortunately, a few left this world before their time. After I left my original job, I worked at 4 places. Non was as good as that first place. I saw nursing change as I grew older. By the time I left bedside nursing, we were following a script to speak to our patients. I never got use to following a script and not speaking from knowledge and my heart. My last job was away from the bedside and in the community. i enjoyed it for 5 years. At that point, I was tired of hearing others problems. In retirement, I do things as I want to, when I want to. I will always be a nurse at heart, but my brain and body don't work as fast as they did years ago. One of the things I enjoyed the most was washing pts feet. Many people had never had someone wash their feet. You can really get to know someone while washing their feet. Hear their store, what made that person special. The two hospitals that meant the most to me, the ones I spent the most time at are both gone. Torn down and empty fields now.

Reading this post has made my pulse race. It sounds very much like days that I have had. So glad that I'm retired. Although, I often have dreams that have me running around all night doing pt care! Once a nurse, I guess, always a nurse!

Anything that involves an eye injury.

My husband and I have been married for 39 years. I started my nursing career 3 years before we got married. For the majority of my working years, I made about double what my husband did. But he was able to get the kids up and out in the morning and took care of them on the weekends I worked. In the grand scale if things, we both worked hard at what we did. I was able to retire at 62 while my husband will work till 65 and we can get on Medicare. Money isn’t what life or a marriage is all about.

I’ve had these dreams for years. I’m now retired and I still gave them. My work dreams always take place at the hospital I worked at the longest. None of the other places make it. The dreams are always how I have forgotten a patient etc.Usually I’m totally inept. Ive talked to other retired nurses that have similar dreams. Apparently nurses are not alone. I’ve heard teachers have similar dreams related to teaching.

I retired in Feb 2019. I love it. I can hardly remember the days of all the stress and hard work. 41 years is long enough and I want to have time to do things that make me happy. I have re found my interest in sewing, some days just read. I do babysit 3 days per week for grand children. I love looking at the toothless grin smiling back at me. Plus the more I hear about the state of health care, the happier I am that I am out!

I always loved to place a ng tube and get great results. Same as placing a foley in the patient that couldn’t pee, no matter what. They felt so much better after the foley was placed. I was pretty good at starting IV’s and often enjoyed the challenge.

I have 2 memories, both about codes years apart. I had been a nurse for about 5 yrs and was pregnant with my first child. I had a pt that needed a CT scan but wasn’t doing well on the med surg floor. This was in the early 80’s. I went with him, of course, he coded. No crash cart in CT. Bed in high position, unplugged, I’m hugely pregnant. Don’t remember the outcome, but CT got crash carts shortly after this. Much later in my career, I had a pt come in with resp symptoms. I had a bad feeling. I was working at a small community hospital with no ICU and no resp therapy on weekends. As she declined, I kept telling her she needed to get in bed. She was rather on the large size and I could see her coding in the chair. I finally got her in bed and things came together. ER doc intubated her and we hooked her up to the vent. Shipped her out to a larger hospital. She came back to see us about a month later. I asked her if she know understood why I wanted her in bed. She laughed.

I had a license in 2 states. The state I live in I will maintain. The other state was up for renewal in April and I placed it inactive.

At one point in my career I was afraid that I was going to die while working. I would cry most mornings while I drove to work. I am fortunate in that my husband and I have managed our money well. We lived in our starter home for 38 yrs. I understand that some cannot retire, but I didn't want to be dead rather than retired.

I’m sorry to hear about your accident and wish you the best as you recover. Unfortunately, the world has changed. In the past, your job would could have been held. Now what is done for one person must be done for all. If your job is held, the next person with a similar situation will expect the same thing. Health care is big business today. I believe all things happen for a reason, maybe an even better job is in your future. Good luck!

I understand how you feel. I’ve been there. I just retired after nursing since 1977. No real time off, but didn’t work full time most of the time. Nursing is unlike lots of other careers, especially teaching. Often teachers can retire at 55 and work in another career. While our health insurance is work based,most will need to work until they qualify for Medicare. I feel fortunate, my husband covers benefits for me. I carried us for our younger years and now he covers us. Good luck, nursing has changed in the past few years.

I’m from Illinois and I’m fairly certain a sheet as indicated earlier is not available. Plus we are near ST Louis Mo and some kids receive care in that state. I’ll check the dates more closely. Thanks!

I'm a med surg nurse with no peds experience. I'm learning things I never thought I would! I have been reviewing immunization records for a day care. My question is regarding the HIB vaccine. When I check sources on how many doses a child is to receive, it says it depends on the brand used by the health care practitioner. Of course, none of that info is on the record I get, just the date. I have sent several children to get another dose of the HIB only to be told they don't need it. I have no communication with the parents or the health care providers. I report my findings to the director and she takes it from there. She agrees this is a concern. This day care is in a very poor area and health care can be received from many different places. Has any one else had this problem or concern?

So much I want to do, scrapbook, sew, genealogy, read and travel just to start.

My Illinois license I’ll keep active as I live in Illinois and may want to do something as a volunteer. I have a license in Missouri also but not renewing. Going inactive. Just after I made this decision, my newest grandson spent 11 days in the hospital with RSV at age 2 1/2 weeks. I plan to babysit for him 3 days a week once my daughter goes back to work. At least until he is a little older.

After 41 years and 8 months and at age 62 1/2, I have decided to hang up my stethoscope! And it feels good to have made the decision. I remember when I first came to Allnurses, during an period of burnout in 2009. Lots of folks were a great help. I made it 10 more years. So much has changed during my years of practice.I think that one of the best advances I have seen was the development of the wound vac. We were all skeptical at first and putting a wound vac on in the beginning was a challenge. I haven't applied one for the past 5 years, but when I did it was so much easier than all the cut and fit. People ask what are you going to do. I have a whole list of what I want to do including what ever I want, when I want to. And most importantly- it won't be my problem any longer! I ordered a tee shirt that says just that. I thank God that I was allowed to do what I did for so long.

I read your post with interest. I'm at the end of my nursing career, but still working about 10 hrs per week. I've been a RN for 41 years and think about retirement all the time. I'm fortunate to be in a wonderful job that doesn't involve actual patient care. I'm 62 and plan to retire when it isn't fun anymore. The hospital I spent most of my career at has just been torn down. This week! I left this hospital in 2006, but it still tugs at my heart. I feel that as the hospital came down, so went my history. The hospital I did my training at is also gone. Lots of memories. Enjoy retirement!

This has not happened to me, but I have heard about it. A PRN nurse was floated between 2 hospitals about 10 miles apart during her shift. Work the first 4 at Hospital A and then get sent to Hospital B for the next 4 or 8. Hospitals A and B are owned by the same company. I can't even imagine trying to do something like this. Plus what happens if you are in an accident between hospitals. What is nursing coming to?

41 years, hope to retire soon.

Me too!

I think it depends upon the situation. Obviously it isn't good practice, but what is the whole picture. Is it easy to get a replacement pill? Or will it take more than a few minutes. What is the pill for and is it a controlled substance. In a perfect world, get a replacement but we all know a perfect world doesn't exist.

I once got what I thought was my dream job. It turned out that I was placed into a position I never should have never been in. Did management support me, no. Turned out to be a big disaster. Moral of the story, the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence!

I can't remember my first, 40 yrs is a long time. I do remember one of the last though. It was Labor Day weekend, 3 -12 hr shifts in a row, each with it's own disaster. Small community hospital, no ICU, pack and ship any critical patient.i had a patient with resp issues. As the morning passes, I'm becoming more concerned. Resp status is declining and the patient wouldn't get into the bed. I knew if they stopped breathing in the chair, it would only get worse. Finally into the bed, code called, intubated,helicoptered out. The patient was back a few weeks later to say thanks! They finally understood why I wanted them in bed and not the chair. I no longer do bedside care, but remember the days well.