Saying Goodbye to My Nurse Career: RN Reflects on Retirement

• An RN looks back on her nurse career and her final day on the job before retirement. 
• She revisits the emotions of the day and what her career has meant to her over the years. 
• Even though she’s no longer at the bedside, she will always be a nurse. 

I recently wrote a few blogs pertaining to my upcoming retirement. I wrote about the emotions I was feeling as my retirement date was drawing closer and closer. First, I had to decide on the date itself, look at the timing and resolve myself to the fact that it truly was time to retire. That was the hardest part!  

I penned about some of the emotions that were triggered, thinking about my time in the emergency department and the patients I had cared for. So many emotions, from happiness upon delivering a baby in the emergency department to emotions of heartbreak upon being unable to save a patient, especially when it was a child. I always brought my work and feelings home with me. But how could you not? You could not leave your feelings at the door, as they say. 

Retirement Day

Well, retirement day has arrived, and it was harder than I ever thought it could be. So many nurses before me kept telling me that retirement is great, moving onto the next chapter of my life is wonderful and welcome to the retirement club! It was a euphoric feeling at that time. 

The day started just as any other, except I knew it would be the last time walking through those doors. I changed into scrubs for the day and was met with many of the usual greetings, and the workday began. When I saw all of the food, desserts, and gifts in the office, I knew this was going to be a grueling day to get through. 

I had about eight patients that day and with each patient, I knew the last patient was coming sometime after lunch. It was a beautiful retirement celebration from the nursing staff and the physicians.  

Then I was back in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) with my patient. I told him he was my last patient, and he thought he was the last patient of the day. I politely told him that he was the last patient of my career! I explained that I was retiring that day and after the care I gave him, I would be finished with my nursing career. He jokingly said that he hoped he was not the reason I was leaving nursing! I explained that I had been a bedside nurse for 49 years and it was time to retire.  

Caring For My Last Patient

As I walked him out the door to his ride, it finally hit me that my nurse career was complete. It had an air of finality in it that was overwhelming. I vowed that I was not going to cry! I finished his charting on my laptop and closed the computer. I tried to fortify myself for what I knew was going to happen next. My colleagues wanted to take a group photo for memory’s sake. 

I received so many beautiful gifts, but the gift that truly meant the most was six words: I will miss you so much!  

Then came the hugs and, even as I sit here writing this piece, tears are running down my face. I worked with this wonderful group of healthcare workers for the past six years, and it was ending. Yes, there were many more tears coming. With each hug came another flood of tears. I tried to laugh it off, saying I had overactive tear ducts, but we all knew what was happening. It was just so difficult to say goodbye, to this place, to these people and to my nurse career. 

The Bottom Line

The ending of this day still brings tears of sadness that I am saying goodbye to a profession that I have loved and will miss terribly. Nursing is not just in your blood, but it is in your heart and soul. I will always be a nurse! 

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