Something I’ve always loved is my bath. I love coming home after a long day and removing all the bad energy from my body with a nice bath. It makes me feel clean, refreshed and relaxed. After fifty years of being a nurse, having a bath after work has been my go-to form of relaxation for many years. I can’t really live without it.
Unfortunately for me though, I’ve hit retirement age and my physical well being is deteriorating very quickly. The bath that I love so much is getting harder and harder for me to get into and my body can’t move safely like it used to. I’ve seen similar things happen to my thousands of patients over the years and I know I need to act early to ensure I don’t have any accidents in the home.
That means I’m giving up my love of the bath to get a much needed bath tub cut out for elderly people. What’s a bath tub cut out, you may be wondering? It’s when a side of the bath is cut out (the side that you climb over to get in the bath) to create a little opening. With this opening, I won’t have to step over the bath and potentially pull a muscle or trip over. I understand how annoying it is for hospital staff when people come in with fully-preventable injuries and I don’t want to be one of them. Hospital staff across the country are in a big enough struggle as it is.
Something that made my decision easier is the fact that in Sydney, bathtub remodel costs aren’t too high. Even on a nurses’ salary, I can afford to get modifications done to my bath.
I’m going to be sad not being able to have a bath after work anymore. Having to opt for a shower is definitely a downgrade but it’s better for my health in the long run.