Meet a Bedside Nurse: Still at the Bedside After 50 Years

Many times, when someone interacts with nursing care, it is in their primary care provider’s office when the nurse takes their vitals, sets up their next appointment, or answers their questions. However, for patients who need surgery, have chronic conditions, or find themselves in an emergency room after an accident, bedside nurses are essential.

Many nurses see bedside nursing as a step toward an advanced degree, leadership position, or non-bedside nursing job. Yet, Aniese Nunn, RN, has been at the bedside for over 50 years. She started as a licensed practical nurse (LPN), returned to school to become a registered nurse (RN), and even returned to nursing after retirement.

Find out about Nunn’s journey, what bedside nurses do, and why you might want to become one.

I wanted to care for sick people, and there was a local LPN school in Opelika, my home town, so I attended it.

I chose medical-surgical nursing because there was a lot to learn about many types of illnesses.

I discovered that I could give more care to my patients than I could as an LPN.

I worked on the orthopedic floor and surgical floor. My routine and responsibilities differed in how these types of patients were taken care of. I learned how to take care of patients with fractures on the ortho floor. And on the surgical floor, I learned how to take care of fresh post-op patients.

After working for over 50 years as a nurse, I needed to make a gradual adjustment to retirement.

This is the local hospital. It’s in the city where I have resided my entire life.

I made this decision because to me, it is rewarding. Just to see patients get better and go home is a joyful feeling. I like hands-on patient care. The human contact with patients is just such a loving feeling.

Plus, the appreciation you get from them is so nice. When they’re leaving, they just cannot thank you enough, and that’s because you have truly cared for them like family.

Digital technology … has made nursing more efficient and accurate. Also, nurses are educating their patients more, making them more knowledgeable about their illness.

My advice to them would be for them to make sure that they understand how rewarding it is to be a nurse. I like watching patients improve and be able to go home. Also, I like getting to know patients.

Having worked here so many years, I have taken care of multiple members of the same family.

The role of a bedside nurse varies depending on the nurse’s specialty and license. Surgical nurses care for patients before, during, and immediately after surgery. Medical-surgical nurses care for adults with diverse medical conditions or preparing for and recovering from surgery.

LPNs work under the supervision of RNs or physicians to provide basic care and comfort to patients. State regulations decide how much LPNs must be supervised and whether they can start intravenous lines or give certain medications.

RNs have more autonomy to create and adjust care plans, triage and examine patients, perform diagnostic tests, and give medication and treatments. Even with their increased autonomy, RNs do many of the same duties as LPNs:

Many nurses may leave the bedside because of unsafe nurse-to-patient ratios and a nursing shortage worsened by the pandemic. Sixty percent of bedside nurses reported nurse burnout in 2022, according to the COVID-19 Two-Year Impact Assessment Survey.

While it may be difficult to find reasons to stay, Nunns says she enjoys directly caring for patients, getting to know them, seeing them improve, and being appreciated for her care of patients.

Other reasons nurses stay could be because they:

Most LPNs and RNs start their careers as bedside nurses. If you’re a new graduate or nursing student in your last year, you can start applying for entry-level jobs or nurse residency programs up to six months before you graduate.

You have a few different nursing degree options for starting your bedside career. If you want to become an RN, you can either get your two-year associate degree in nursing (ADN) or earn your four-year bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree. A BSN may provide you with opportunities for higher pay, more responsibilities, and more career advancement.

If you want a faster way to enter nursing, you can start your career as an LPN in 40-50 credits or about a year of full-time study. Then, you can get your RN license with an LPN-to-RN or LPN-to-BSN program.

LPNs and RNs must take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) to earn their nursing license. LPNs take the NCLEX-PN, which focuses on coordinating care under the supervision of RNs. RNs take the NCLEX-RN, which tests their skill in supervising and managing care.

After you pass the NCLEX, get your license, and gain a few years of work experience, you can become certified in your specialty.

Your salary as a bedside nurse depends on your specialty, license, education, and experience. Both LPNs and RNs can find higher-than-average salaries in geriatric care. Other high-paying specialties for RNs include neonatal, oncology, and pediatric care.

RNs make an average of $30,900 more per year than LPNs. RNs make an annual average salary of $82,750, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from May 2021. LPNs make an average of $51,850 a year.

RNs who hold a BSN or master’s in nursing may make even more. According to the 2020 National Nursing Workforce Survey, BSN-prepared RNs earn a median salary of $4,000 more than ADN-prepared nurses. RNs with an MSN make a median of $90,000 annually.

More experienced nurses earn higher average hourly pay for both RNs and LPNs. RNs with over 20 years of experience earn an average of almost $9 more an hour than new graduate RNs with less than a year of experience, according to Payscale data from April 2023. Experienced LPNs can make a little over $4 more an hour than new graduate LPNs.