Why I Wanted To Write a Non-Fiction Book Inspired By My Nursing Career

I have been a nurse for over 30 years and have specialised in aged care for well over twenty of those years. I am passionate about caring for older people just as much as I am about my writing. It’s about time I combined the two, so I wrote a non-fiction book about providing compassionate person-centered care to older people.

I'm sure my writing skills helped me make it through my nursing degree all those years ago. Each subject comprised an exam worth fifty percent of the mark, and an essay made up the other fifty percent. Let’s just say more often than not, my essay writing skills got me over the line. And yes, I actually enjoyed writing them. I was a complete nerd. I would usually end up paralysed by fear in an exam situation, rendering the whole thing a complete mental blur.

Colleagues have been telling me to write a book related to nursing for years. What better topic than one I am so passionate about. My inspiration for this book comes from a deep desire to highlight the profound beauty and complexity of geriatric nursing. In a fast-paced medical world that often prioritises efficiency over human connection, older adults can easily become overlooked numbers in a crowded system.

This book is a conscious effort to challenge that reality, serving as a reminder that our older members of society carry lifetimes of wisdom, stories, and dignity that deserve to be honoured. By putting pen to paper, my goal is to lift the standard of care from merely clinical to deeply relational, ensuring that older people feel seen, heard, and valued in their most vulnerable moments.

On a daily basis, I sadly witness the gap between standard medical protocols and truly empathetic care. Clinical guidelines dictate how to treat a disease, but they rarely teach a caregiver how to soothe the anxiety of a confused person or how to comfort a family navigating the final years of their loved one’s life.

My personal experiences at the bedside have taught me that the smallest gestures often have the most significant therapeutic impact. Holding a frail hand, listening patiently to a repetitive memory, or maintaining a person’s modesty during a routine procedure are not minor details, they are the foundation of ethical nursing.

The writing of this book is also driven by an urgent need to teach and support the next generation of healthcare providers. As the global population ages rapidly, the demand for skilled, empathetic geriatric caregivers is higher than ever, yet many healthcare providers enter the specialty with misconceptions about working with older adults.

I hope this book will serve as a mentor in print form, dismantling fears and replacing them with inspiration. This book provides caregivers with a roadmap for building deep empathy, patience, and resilience, ensuring the future workforce fully equips itself to care for this special demographic.

On a deeper level, this book is also a tribute to the resilience of the older people who have left a positive mark on my life and practice. Many of them, despite facing cognitive decline or physical frailty, demonstrated immense courage, humour, and grace.

Their lives deserve to be memorialised, and their experiences serve as the ultimate teachers for what it means to care well. This book ensures that their voices live on, transforming their individual struggles and triumphs into a guide for better care.

Ultimately, wanting to write this non-fiction book is about leaving a lasting legacy of love and advocacy within the healthcare community. It is an acknowledgment that while medicine can prolong life; it is compassionate care that gives that prolonged life quality and meaning.

This book is a call to action for a more tender, respectful world, urging every reader to look at an older person and see not just a diagnosis, but a full life worthy of our utmost devotion. It is written with the hope that it will spark a revolution of kindness at the bedside, one older person at a time.

The book will be published in November.