Lately, I have been sidelined by a medical situation. Truth be told, I love being home, but was not planning on being here just yet. I really had planned to work full-time til full retirement age, then at least part-time after that - kind of die in harness, you know.
It has got me wondering who else is feeling that maybe they are getting ready to hang it up. A couple of things that have me focusing on it are:
I no longer know all of the newer meds. I have always spent lots of time studying meds, but no longer am up on the latest ones.
I don't know all the names and types of wound care products and their uses.
Ditto all the mattresses available these days and the indications.
The students and residents look so young they could be in pre-school, LOL.
My boss is a lot younger than I am. A lot younger.
So, what makes you feel like you might be heading into the sunset? Are you happy about it?
I'm 63 and struggling. I had a full time PDN case until I moved. Now I'm scraping the barrel to find work. I believe I will start working nights which I REALLY don't want to do but one must pay the bills. Actually I have applied to be a telephonic nurse. Hope I get it.
I do not know what your personal financial reality is or what motivates you to work. My suggestion is to develop a structured plan to keep current on new treatments, medications and research. You do not need to be perfect but as a professional you should be keeping current and making progress. You can do this.Local chapters of whatever nursing specialty in which you are most interested can be a good resource and also help you to feel more connected. Don't feel overwhelmed. Good luck to you and feel free to contact me anytime as I am in a similar situation.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Lately, I have been sidelined by a medical situation. Truth be told, I love being home, but was not planning on being here just yet. I really had planned to work full-time til full retirement age, then at least part-time after that - kind of die in harness, you know.
It has got me wondering who else is feeling that maybe they are getting ready to hang it up. A couple of things that have me focusing on it are:
I no longer know all of the newer meds. I have always spent lots of time studying meds, but no longer am up on the latest ones.
I don't know all the names and types of wound care products and their uses.
Ditto all the mattresses available these days and the indications.
The students and residents look so young they could be in pre-school, LOL.
My boss is a lot younger than I am. A lot younger.
So, what makes you feel like you might be heading into the sunset? Are you happy about it?
I don't know all the newer meds, either -- I keep looking them up. They don't seem to "stick" as easily as they once did, but I'll keep at it until they do. Wound care products keep changing every time we get a new contract. I stopped worry about the names -- if it's wet, dry it out. If it's dry, moisten it. As for mattresses -- we only get the RecoverAir 5000, so that's not much to remember.
Students and residents look like they're aging backwards, but my boss is only a few years younger. I'm looking at the finish line now, and I realize I'll miss it. But life has other adventures in store for me and I'm eager to start on those.
OP, I am in my first year of my career so I obviously cannot know how you feel. I just wanted you - and all of the other nurses who are in similar situations - to know that as a new nurse, you are appreciated. You may not know the names of the newest drugs or dressings, but you know how the "real" world of nursing works, and if you nurses weren't around to teach us newbies what you know the profession would be in a world of hurt!
So--if you are ready to retire, I say go and enjoy it because you earned it!! And if you aren't ready then come back! Any of us can look up drug names, but only seasoned nurses can teach us what you have learned over the years!
Family issues (a dying mother) caused me to exit, stage left. I was sooo stressed, it was affecting my work a lot. I worried Mom would have to go to the ER in the middle of my shift.
Walking in the hospital one day, I felt the a turkey w/the timer thing popped up. "I'm done!" Financially, it's not so fun, but we can make it, so--I'm ok.
I made the transition from playing to coaching last fall. I am an instructor for a local nursing program so I sorta keep my hand in, but I get to make the students look up the drugs, lol.
I see a lot of my former co-workers retiring or "setting the date" and I am so jealous. But I am only 58, what I call a baby baby-boomer, so hanging it all up is a ways out.
I hope I live long enough to retire, most people in my family don't live past 65.
And Viva, I wish you and your DH all the best. I love your posts. I may not always agree, but I appreciate your point of view. I have learned so much about the struggles around mental health, thank you!
Viva, I hope your claim goes through. I don't know if this would apply to you, but I recently found out that a spouse can start drawing on the social security record of their deceased spouse at the age of 60. I had always thought that social security could be had no earlier than 62.
Social Security is tremendously complicated. Read up on it at the library and talk with a couple of attorneys who specialize in it.
You can't hope for the SS staff to advise you or inform you of very much, either, like what approach is most advantageous for you, if there is more than one way you could go.
For instance, re: deceased spouse - there is a means test. That is, if you earn more than a certain amount of money per year from wages (maybe interest, maybe a pension, maybe rental income, or other passive or active income - not untaxed income like disability insurance, though), you will not get your deceased spouse's SS. For every dollar you earn over this current year's allowed amount, SS subtracts two dollars from some figure and you could end up being disallowed or getting a very reduced amount from SS. But check into it and good luck.
OP, I am in my first year of my career so I obviously cannot know how you feel. I just wanted you - and all of the other nurses who are in similar situations - to know that as a new nurse, you are appreciated. You may not know the names of the newest drugs or dressings, but you know how the "real" world of nursing works, and if you nurses weren't around to teach us newbies what you know the profession would be in a world of hurt!
So--if you are ready to retire, I say go and enjoy it because you earned it!! And if you aren't ready then come back! Any of us can look up drug names, but only seasoned nurses can teach us what you have learned over the years!
That's so sweet of you, Scared Silly! Thank you so very much.
And I wish I could get back to work, but this medical issue is relapsing right now, so I have to be on the sidelines for now.
But thank you again, I really appreciate your appreciation.
We have older nurses at work, 65-75. They're not working full time and the EMR has been a tough learning curve for the ones who have never even done email, but they still love the patient care and we're helping them with the charting. They're very supportive of us FT nurses and we have a lot of regard for them. Mostly they do basic admissions and the case managers do any follow up or task oriented revisits and work at whatever pace works for them.
I love the teamwork. Does anyone at your job resent any aspect you've described? Or are folks really willing to work together and help each other?
Financially I can't voluntarily take the long last walk to the locker room. Not even when I'm retirement age.
I'm cheering for the nurse glut/nurse shortage cycle to swing , because just being old in America is a liability.
I think if you're leaning towards retirement, then everything's an omen to push you in that direction.
If retirement is not an option, then nothing can make it a consideration.
I wonder how other countries handle this problem (no longer being able physically, though willing mentally, to take care of oneself, to provide for a family when the breadwinner is down).
I guess here we have Medicaid, relatives, or Skid Row/park bench.
imintrouble, BSN, RN
2,406 Posts
Financially I can't voluntarily take the long last walk to the locker room. Not even when I'm retirement age.
I'm cheering for the nurse glut/nurse shortage cycle to swing , because just being old in America is a liability.
I think if you're leaning towards retirement, then everything's an omen to push you in that direction.
If retirement is not an option, then nothing can make it a consideration.