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In reply to the discussion: I've decided to retire. [View all]3catwoman3
(25,967 posts)I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have been enjoying mine
I retired on March 31, 2021, not quite a month before my 70th birthday, and 10 weeks shy of 25 years at my final job. I became a nurse practitioner in 1976, after about 18 months of bedside nursing in pediatrics.
For most of my career, I loved my job and worried a lot about missing it after retiring. Being a nurse practitioner wasn't just what I did, it was who I was. For a few reasons, that fear ended up being unfounded:
Reason 1 - EMR, aka electronic medical records. Hate 'em. Supposed to be more efficient - they're not. I was spending 2-3 hours of unpaid time at home getting my documentation completed because I couldn't get it done to my own high standards of clarity and accuracy during the face to face time with a family. Worried moms like it when you look them in the eye rather than focusing on the damn computer screen.
Reason 2 - COVID. Our patient population dropped way down when COVID struck in early 2020, and I got furloughed for 10 weeks. Turned out I didn't miss going to work very much.
Reason 3 - telehealth. Because of reason 2, people didn't want to come in to the office, and the demand for telehealth visits skyrocketed. I don't consider teleheath safe for evaluating acutely ill kids, especially the very young ones. For conversations about behavior, nutrition, sleep problems, potty training and the like, it's adequate. Not for cough with fever, abdominal pain, ear aches, rashes, etc.
Had I worked 10 more weeks, I would have been at my final job for 25 years, which was a goal for several years. For all the above reasons, it wasn't as much fun as it used to be, and 10 more weeks felt like 10 more years. I was ready to go.
The only thing I miss is first time parents, newborns, and young babies. That was always my favorite.
When people ask me what I do now that I'm retired, my sort answer is, "Whatever I want, and not whatever I don't want."
Again, congratulations!