This is a powerful and beautifully written book, a heartfelt account about the practicalities of nursing and the toll it takes on the people who have chosen the career.

I enjoyed the way this book was laid out, first starting with Watson’s decision to become a nurse and her training – then mapping out nursing chronologically from working in maternity, with young children, in A&E and then with end of life care. She talks about the different personality types and skill sets needed in some of the specialities, which shines a light on why some people work in the departments they do and thrive there.

The unexpected element of this book is how philosophical it is on the nature of kindness, caring for others and the meaning of life and death. It must be difficult to work with very ill children and not wonder about the nature of death, but I think the author words it all perfectly. There’s a lot of short anecdotes about the theory of nursing from various sources and how it fits into the practical side of things, how sometimes the best way to care for your patient is to hold their hand and listen to them talk.

The writing style is very personable and you can really start to understand how nurses are the hearts of hospitals, bringing dignity and kindness to strangers who are at their most vulnerable while all the while having to protect their own hearts from the terrible things they have to witness. I know that I’d never be able to be a nurse for that reason – the energy needed to balance compassion and detachment successfully is immense.