Mrs Nimmo last week ended a 47-year nursing career, 45 of them at Dunedin Hospital.
The past 27 years have been in the hospital's emergency department, where people sometimes presented multiple times with complications caused by surgery delays.
One example was patients with severe abdominal pain, caused by waiting for gall bladder removal.
Another was elderly people waiting for cataract surgery, some of whom hurt themselves in falls because they could not see where they were going. As well as increasing the risk of injury, it greatly affected their quality of life, with some unable to read a newspaper because of sight problems.
Otago had an ageing population, meaning higher rates of eye problems, and she did not believe this was adequately recognised by population-based funding.
"I find it difficult to accept rationing of healthcare when clearly a clinical need has been identified."
She spoke against caps on procedure numbers - if "97 children need grommets in their ears, then 97 children need grommets".
"When I commenced my training, patients received the operations or care they needed. Procedures were not rationed and there certainly wasn't a points system."
The six-hour transfer or treatment target for the emergency department meant staff were under pressure to admit patients to wards as soon as possible.
"It is challenging to meet targets without compromising nursing care. This continues to concern me greatly as a nurse."
Change started about 20 years ago, when people with backgrounds other than health were appointed to run hospitals.
She believed that along with education, health was a special field, requiring managers with on-the-ground experience. She was pleased new chief executive Carole Heatly had a nursing background, and said Ms Heatly had been reasonably visible on the shop floor.
However, the no-nonsense 64-year-old is not sentimental about the past, instructing the Otago Daily Times she did not want her retirement story to be about starchy white uniforms, strict matrons, and curfews during nurse training.
Much had changed for the better.
Nursing was a great career, less hierarchical than when she started, with a multidisciplinary approach that valued nurses' opinions.
The hospital was now staffed with people from many ethnicities, enhancing the experience of working with colleagues.
"While emergency nursing is challenging in many ways, it has been a real privilege to care for people from all walks of life and socioeconomic backgrounds, knowing you have been a part of a team making a difference."
Another positive was fewer "dreadful workplace incidents" since the introduction of workplace health and safety, seat belts, airbags, helmets and mouthguards.
She "strongly" believed there were no "inappropriate attenders" at the emergency department, but was sad many people seemed to have lost the ability to care for simple injuries and illnesses in themselves and others.
She was also saddened by the numbers of "shockingly drunk young people" turning up.
Later this month, Mrs Nimmo and husband Peter are retiring to Wanaka, where they will "recover" and spend more time outdoors and with friends.
