Are you a nurse? Do you know anyone who is a nurse? Author Paula Sergi is putting together an inspirational book, and she’s looking for essays, prose pieces, and poems. The deadline is coming up soon — January 15, 2006.

I think this is a great idea. I’m sure all of us have been helped at some point in our lives by a caring nurse — how about during labor and delivery? I’ve been so blessed by good nurses that I’ve even written thank-you notes with pictures of the new baby they helped deliver.

So, be sure to pass this site along if you know anyone who might enjoy writing about the nursing profession. Here’s some information from Paula Sergi’s site:

“We are looking for nurses who:

— Continue to practice but considered leaving;
— Have left practice;
— Still identify as a nurse but have another calling in their lives.

Consider:

Who or what holds you in place as a nurse? Who or what influenced your decision to stay?
Who or what influenced your decision to leave practice?
What is the other calling that shapes your life? How does it intersect with your identity as a nurse?
As an oral culture, nurses told their stories to one another, but felt little urgency to document our history. But what is not preserved cannot beckon or inspire. When asked the reason for their career choice, students often respond with tales of nurses who impacted their lives or the lives of loved ones. They come to nursing drawn by the magnetic force of another. When we accept guidance from someone we admire, are we then not vested to pass it on? And if we do so with greater generosity, would that affect the nursing shortage?

Feel free to explore the guidelines in creative and innovative ways. The pieces we are looking for might be “inspirational” in effect; however this is not our intention. Our goal is a thoughtful collection which testifies to the complexity of the nursing profession and the myriad variables which determine our response to it.”