Retirement After Being A Nurse: What I Miss The Most

Last Updated on April 26, 2022 by Andrew

If I didn’t end up as a nurse, I can’t have imagined what else I would have done. All I could think of was how the white gown and nurse cap would fit my tiny body as a child. I can still remember like it was yesterday when my mum had me dressed up as a little nurse on career day; I felt on top of the world like I was an actual nurse. The love for the profession pushed me through high school and then college, and voila! I got my nursing degree. I do not know whether it was an obsession or my love for helping people that motivated me, but I can boldly say that my days as a nurse were the best days of my life. Now that I’m retired, I can’t help but miss the love of my life, but what can a 60-year-old woman do? However, I have carefully highlighted a few things I miss about being a nurse below.

1. Helping patients: I have always wanted to help people, even when I’m not getting paid for it. Whenever I see people bring in their sick loved ones into the hospital, I feel sorry for them, and all I want to do is help ensure that the patient gets better. Doing this made me feel like I was contributing to the healthcare society. I feel like a superhero whenever I am a part of a patient’s healing or recovery process. I really do miss helping people feel better. 
2. Talking with the patients: Another thing I miss about my job is that many patients opened up to me because of how compassionate and friendly I was to them. They were always willing to share their problems with me. I was not only working as a nurse, many of my patients saw me as their primary therapist, so they were comfortable sharing with me. I can still remember the friendships I made and how much I cried when we lost a patient struggling with cancer. Her death was sad because she used to talk to me about everything. Being a symbol of hope to my patients is something I will never forget. 
3. Evolution and Learning: Nobody is an island of knowledge, especially in the medical field; learning never stops. The medical field evolves every day, and to join in the evolution, one has to learn not to be left behind. I remember how records were kept when I started as a nurse. The hospital had a large inventory room filled with papers stacked up as if we were aiming for the sky. These papers contained all the records of patients, their illnesses, and their medications. Trying to search for patient information was hard, but with the advent of technology and Electronic Medical Records EMR, a lot became easier. The remote patient monitoring technology also made it easier to monitor how patients are faring beyond the hospital walls. Right now, with one click, you have any information you ever need. We had to learn and grow as the world was evolving. Even better nowadays you have so much information in your hands due to the internet where you can freely find for example resources and guides by Osmosis to help you in your nursing journey.
4. Witnessing the birth of a new child: The best feeling in the world has to be seeing a mother hold her newborn child to her chest and give the crying baby a big smile after being in labor for hours. You feel a different level of accomplishment as a nurse when you realize that new life comes into the world through you or your help. I miss the nostalgia that I used to feel. I miss that silent prayer that I say when the mother in labor gets tired. I forget how they just came back to life with another groan in an attempt to push the baby out. I miss holding the mother’s hand and whispering, “just more push”. I miss all these feelings. 

1. The uniform and colleagues: Oh, how can I not talk about the Queens of the ER? I miss how gorgeous my colleagues look every morning in their nicely ironed white and sky blue gowns, adorned with a Queen Elizabeth standard Nurses cap, how beautiful they look. I made a few friends among my colleagues, and I miss all of these things. 

Whenever I think about my career as a nurse, I can’t help but give gratitude to God for the opportunity to have made all the differences I was able to make. If I had the chance to come out of retirement and go back to work, I wouldn’t hesitate to, but the new generation also has to feel what I felt, right? This article is a