Went to inactive license

Calm and collected · Sep 20, 2020

I am about to do the same. Received my LVN in 1977 and RN in 1991. Practiced until 2016 and then quit work but kept my license active. I know I need to go inactive but I also feel sad about leaving a career I loved. I feel your loss.

amoLucia · Sep 20, 2020

ABSOLUTELY!! I retired in 2010 after 36 RN years (grad in 1974). My knees just weren't there anymore. I kept renewing for a few years post, but it was a CEU thing and cost thing. I knew I'd never practice again, so I finally notified the Board a few years back.

I'm still wistful at times. But reality overcomes that.

I do find that AN here does help with current affairs and trends, etc. So here I am reading and posting.

Like PP commented, it will feel like a real loss.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Sep 20, 2020

I kept my license active for several years after I left nursing, even though I knew I was done and would never work as a nurse again. Eventually I had none of the required CEs or practice hours for renewal, so I put my license in Retired status (rather than inactive). I can still use the title RN as long as I put Retired behind it. I have no authority, nor can I work as a nurse, not even as a volunteer, so the title of RN, Ret. doesn’t really mean anything. But I worked long and hard to become a nurse, and I’m proud to have been one.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Sep 20, 2020

I am dreading making this decision. I've been an RN since 1980 and was an LPN three years prior. No immediate plans to retire (I have a fairly cushy work from home job in academia)- but one never knows.

I actually want to get a job someday stocking shelves or something. Number one to keep physically active, but number two to see what it's like to go to work, have a finite amount of work to do, complete that finite amount of work and go home- never giving another thought to that work until I clock in the next day. Because that sounds PERFECT to me.

subee, MSN, CRNA · Sep 20, 2020

I finally at the age of 71 (?) retired my license because I was holding onto it for no good reason except for sentimental reasons. My best friend was going through the same thing. No one likes to add any exclamation points to the reality of being too old to do any particular job that is based on being relatively physically fit, but I had to admit when I let it go that there was no possibility of me ever working as a nurse again and now I'm grateful not to add anymore to the paperwork required by just living:) But I can't let go of keeping up with the world of nursing.

Nunya, BSN · Sep 20, 2020

I felt this way when I moved from Texas and put my Texas license in inactive status. It's the one I had the longest and to this day that's the only license number I've been able to memorize!

caliotter3 · Sep 21, 2020

I feel that way every time I end an extended care nursing case, no matter the circumstances. There is loss of job (for whatever length of time), and then there is loss of patient/family interaction (whether positive mostly or negative mostly). I am approaching hanging it up for good and certainly don't welcome the real loss I know will be coming. And I'm not even thinking at all about the income aspect of it.

subee, MSN, CRNA · Sep 21, 2020

12 hours ago, caliotter3 said:

I feel that way every time I end an extended care nursing case, no matter the circumstances. There is loss of job (for whatever length of time), and then there is loss of patient/family interaction (whether positive mostly or negative mostly). I am approaching hanging it up for good and certainly don't welcome the real loss I know will be coming. And I'm not even thinking at all about the income aspect of it.

Do not worry about your future. The job will be in your rear view mirrow in a few days:) You can start planning on doing all the things you wanted to do when you couldn't work and then actually do them. It's not a loss at all to have had a career you love and the opportunity to do anything you want in the next phase. Retirement is awesome. There are plenty of ways to continue using your interpersonal skills in the future in volunteer positions and you will enjoy being able to walk away after a few hours instead of having to work an entire shift!

JKL33 · Sep 21, 2020

On 9/19/2020 at 7:33 PM, londonflo said:

Surprisingly I feel sad today. I was thrilled when I graduated from nursing school in 1977 and never thought I would want anything else. I have many interests outside nursing but I just feel the 'loss'.

@londonflo, I've wanted to reply since reading your post but not sure what to say since I have quite a ways to go before having to personally experience this. ? It makes perfect sense that there would be some grieving associated with your decision.

I feel that people remain nurses forever as long as they want to, such that if someone dislikes nursing, leaves and wishes to be "divorced" from nursing in spirit, then that is up to them. But if they have only retired or become "inactive" (license-wise) as a normal progression of life, then in both fact and spirit they remain a nurse. It doesn't matter how the world changes or progresses or keeps on moving forward, you were and are a nurse. And you have contributed to the well-being of truly innumerable others.

Well....anyway....here's a ((hug)) for you.

RNWCCCM, RN · Sep 21, 2020

I also graduated with my RN in 1977. I did retire for 3 years and now have been back to work for 4 years working in case management. I have always kept my licenses current. I also have a CCM. I really hate to let them go.

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 21, 2020

I also graduated in 1977 and am in the process of semi-retiring now. I am still going to teach a little -- so I need to keep my license a while longer. But I will be letting it expire in just a couple of years. I think it will bother me a little, but hopefully, by then I will have moved on to a new life as a retiree and found other things to do.