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The Nomadic Nurse #3
Having It All: My Love Affair with Nursing
Having it all, but at what cost for a career nurse and devoted mother?
When one of my early mentors suggested that my nursing qualification, as a Registered General Nurse, would be my ticket to 'Having It All' I could not envisage what that would mean for me. As a nurse and a woman, who intended to have a family, I did not think too far ahead and any thoughts on how it would manifest itself in relation to my nursing career were limited to family-friendly options. However, this phrase became embedded in my subconscious and would end up influencing my goals, dreams, and aspirations both personally and professionally.
For me, having it all was not based on greed or a materialistic wish list, instead, it described the tight rope walk that was my life, a finely balanced juggling act between my career, and my family. The truth was that I had survived a period in my life that physically and emotionally pushed me to the edge, and I was literally saved by the deep-seated love for my children. Now as I looked forward there was a ray of light beckoning and telling me it was time to start over.
Might this be my happy ever after at last?
When one of my early mentors suggested that my nursing qualification, as a Registered General Nurse, would be my ticket to 'Having It All' I could not envisage what that would mean for me. As a nurse and a woman, who intended to have a family, I did not think too far ahead and any thoughts on how it would manifest itself in relation to my nursing career were limited to family-friendly options. However, this phrase became embedded in my subconscious and would end up influencing my goals, dreams, and aspirations both personally and professionally.
For me, having it all was not based on greed or a materialistic wish list, instead, it described the tight rope walk that was my life, a finely balanced juggling act between my career, and my family. The truth was that I had survived a period in my life that physically and emotionally pushed me to the edge, and I was literally saved by the deep-seated love for my children. Now as I looked forward there was a ray of light beckoning and telling me it was time to start over.
Might this be my happy ever after at last?
207 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 14, 2022
4 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Jane Butfield
23 books94 followersAuthor Sarah Jane Butfield is a UK-based author originating from Ipswich, Suffolk. Sarah Jane is a mother, Registered General Nurse, and an award-winning internationally published author. She has a growing family, with four children, three stepchildren, now grown up with children of their own, allowing Sarah Jane to enjoy playing an active role as ‘nanny’. to them all.
Sarah Jane enjoys a reputation as the roving Florence Nightingale, with a successful career as a registered nurse and nurse educator allowing her to work in UK and Australia. Her publishing portfolio consists of five best-selling travel and nursing memoirs set in the UK, Australia, and France.
Sarah Jane’s most successful memoirs to date make up ‘The Nomadic Nurse Series’, with both books winning awards and Ooh Matron! attracting Reader's Favorite awards and professional writing industry reviews.
Glass Half Full: Our Australian Adventure, her debut travel memoir, and the award-winning sequel Two dogs and a suitcase: Clueless in Charente, are regularly featured in travel blogs and author podcasts, whilst her culinary memoir, Our Frugal Summer in Charente was voted as one of the 'Top 50 self-published books worth reading' in 2015 after publication.
In addition, she has released the 'What, Why, Where, When, Who & How of Book Promotion Series' for aspiring, debut, and established self-published authors, based on her experiences in the independent publishing world since 2013.
Sarah Jane enjoys a reputation as the roving Florence Nightingale, with a successful career as a registered nurse and nurse educator allowing her to work in UK and Australia. Her publishing portfolio consists of five best-selling travel and nursing memoirs set in the UK, Australia, and France.
Sarah Jane’s most successful memoirs to date make up ‘The Nomadic Nurse Series’, with both books winning awards and Ooh Matron! attracting Reader's Favorite awards and professional writing industry reviews.
Glass Half Full: Our Australian Adventure, her debut travel memoir, and the award-winning sequel Two dogs and a suitcase: Clueless in Charente, are regularly featured in travel blogs and author podcasts, whilst her culinary memoir, Our Frugal Summer in Charente was voted as one of the 'Top 50 self-published books worth reading' in 2015 after publication.
In addition, she has released the 'What, Why, Where, When, Who & How of Book Promotion Series' for aspiring, debut, and established self-published authors, based on her experiences in the independent publishing world since 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 20, 2023
Don’t you love a success story? But Sarah Jane goes a step farther; she shares not just feel-good successes, but includes the raw honesty of mistakes, failures, and catastrophes and the conquering over and over again of the human tendency to just give up. As humans, mistakes are not simply a possibility, they are a given, folks. Relax, you’re not alone! Sarah’s story is one resilience, courage, perseverance, and strength. Her journey is full of falling and rising again (and again). How many times in this book have I found myself thinking, “She gets me, I’ve felt this way, thought this way” as I gleaned from her journey. The minimal cost of Sarah Jane’s books is a small price to pay for lessons on resilience, and courage given in a relatable, enjoyable, sometimes hilarious format. I recommend starting at the beginning of her series, however, either way works. Thanks, Sarah Jane, for taking the risk of being brutally honest. You change lives!
August 20, 2023
Very enjoyable, an easy, fast read.
I’ve read quite a few of this author’s books; travel memoirs and medical memoirs, and very much enjoyed them. This one is the third in her Nomadic Nurse Series, following ‘Ooh Matron’ and ‘Bedpans to Boardrooms’.
Her friend and her partner Richard set Sarah Jane up for a surprise date with Richard's brother Nigel. They get on well, and both love Cornwall, so share trips with their blended family, and soon Sarah Jane gets the job as Deputy Matron at a Nursing and Residential home, in Liskeard, Cornwall, so they'll be moving to live down there.
I enjoy her books, so honest, down to earth, easy to read and makes you want to read on. Interesting, concise, with some photos included.
Juggling work and family life, soon she is working in a different field in nursing. Better pay, and no night shifts, so a better fit for their family. I have to admit I wasn’t as keen on reading the section on management/office/recruitment work-I'd rather read about work in medical departments e.g. A&E, Maternity etc. I prefer medical memoirs where there are details of illnesses, tests, procedures, surgeries. Good for her, and wage wise, but it didn't make it as appealing to me, and I can't help that. And it is a part of the author's career, so that section has to be included.
After that she moves to a job as a senior staff nurse on a surgical ward, back to hands-on nursing, and from then on it was back to stuff more up my street, and I read it avidly. The writing is so much better and flows in the sections where she's talking about the type of nursing she loves best.
I liked the musical tie-ins: Music with lyrics that seemed relevant at the time, when she heard them, it makes her remember.
Oh, fabulous! There will be another book in the series-and I love the title! Despite my reservations in the middle of this book, it became a very good read, just my type of book.
I’ve read quite a few of this author’s books; travel memoirs and medical memoirs, and very much enjoyed them. This one is the third in her Nomadic Nurse Series, following ‘Ooh Matron’ and ‘Bedpans to Boardrooms’.
Her friend and her partner Richard set Sarah Jane up for a surprise date with Richard's brother Nigel. They get on well, and both love Cornwall, so share trips with their blended family, and soon Sarah Jane gets the job as Deputy Matron at a Nursing and Residential home, in Liskeard, Cornwall, so they'll be moving to live down there.
I enjoy her books, so honest, down to earth, easy to read and makes you want to read on. Interesting, concise, with some photos included.
Juggling work and family life, soon she is working in a different field in nursing. Better pay, and no night shifts, so a better fit for their family. I have to admit I wasn’t as keen on reading the section on management/office/recruitment work-I'd rather read about work in medical departments e.g. A&E, Maternity etc. I prefer medical memoirs where there are details of illnesses, tests, procedures, surgeries. Good for her, and wage wise, but it didn't make it as appealing to me, and I can't help that. And it is a part of the author's career, so that section has to be included.
After that she moves to a job as a senior staff nurse on a surgical ward, back to hands-on nursing, and from then on it was back to stuff more up my street, and I read it avidly. The writing is so much better and flows in the sections where she's talking about the type of nursing she loves best.
I liked the musical tie-ins: Music with lyrics that seemed relevant at the time, when she heard them, it makes her remember.
Oh, fabulous! There will be another book in the series-and I love the title! Despite my reservations in the middle of this book, it became a very good read, just my type of book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews