She’s Said To Be The Oldest Working Nurse In The Country – And She Just Retired At Age 96

You can never stop learning says Florence “SeeSee” Rigney. Florence is said to be the oldest working nurse in the country. She has worked for more than 70 years as a nurse and has now retired from a Tacoma, Washington, hospital.

Her nursing career started as an operating room nurse. Since then, she has been none stop working, only taking breaks to care for her two children.

“I don’t like to sit around… I’ve always got to have something to do. That’s my nature,” she told the local affiliate. “I don’t know exactly what made me want to become a nurse, but it was something that I always wanted to do. I love to interact with parents and give them the help that I can.”

“Some of her colleagues joked that they had to sprint to keep up with her.” Laureen Driscoll, President of MultiCare Tacoma General and Allenmore hospital, told King-TV. “She’s continued to be a dedicated nurse and an incredible resource to her colleagues and community. It’s humbling to stop and think about the thousands and thousands of lives she’s cared for.”

“Don’t ever think that you know it all,” Rigney said while offering words of advice to younger nurses. “I kind of did that when I was in the operating room, and you have to always be open. You never stop learning.”