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An Unexpected Retirement

Martha Cabarios, BSN, RN

Home Health Care


At an early age Martha was “inspired” to go into nursing. She subsequently spent over thirty-five years in intensive care as a staff nurse, nurse manager and improving system design and care flow within intensive care settings.

She retired in 1997, but found that she was not good at retirement. She was, however, good at community service, and experienced the unexpected while working as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, saying “I met people who needed expert medical care in their homes and were not getting it.”

“While I knew how to deliver acute care, I knew little about the care these people needed, but I knew I had to do something.” Martha said goodbye to retirement and for the last ten years has been working in home care.

“The satisfaction I receive when giving care and providing comfort continues to keep me going.”

Now the Clinical Supervisor and responsible for training new nurses about the cultural, environmental and psycho-social needs as well as the medical needs of their patients, Martha is once again considering retirement.

“It could happen. But before I do, I want to be sure that the incoming workforce is confident and well-prepared to navigate in this very difficult environment. They need to understand that there are no shortcuts in providing quality care. After all, patients are our diamonds and we are responsible for treating each and every one of them as if they were members of our own families.”

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