Florence "SeeSee" Rigney, RN, retired from her role as a surgical nurse at Multicare Tacoma (Wash.) General Hospital this month at age 96.
Ms. Rigney, who started her nursing career in 1946, was said to be the oldest working nurse in the U.S. before her July 16 retirement.
She said she tried to quit in 1958 when she and her husband adopted their first child, but soon took on part-time work. She returned to nursing full time after her husband died in 1977. Ms. Rigney also said she tried to retire at 65, but the hiatus only lasted six months.
"I don't like to sit around — I've always got to have something to do. That's my nature," Ms. Rigney said in a July 19 news release.
And her advice for other nurses? "Don't ever think that you know it all," she said. "I kind of did that when I was in the operating room, and you have to always be open. You never stop learning."
Tacoma-based MultiCare Health System is launching a scholarship in Ms. Rigney's name to support nurses who'd like to pursue advanced degrees or other employees who want to become nurses.