These Books Are My Way of Taking Care of You
How a Lifetime of Nursing Led Me to Care for Nurses, Too
By Michele G. Kunz, MSN, ANP, RN, NPD-BC
Nurse Educator, Mentor, and Lifelong Advocate for Nurses
For more than 45 years, I have lived my life in the world of nursing. Not beside it, not around it—inside it, shoulder to shoulder with thousands of nurses, students, physicians, families, and patients whose stories have shaped my own.
When you spend that much time in the quiet corners of hospital floors—at the bedside at 3 a.m., in the trauma bay with alarms ringing, in the classroom watching a student’s eyes finally light up—you begin to understand something profound:
Nursing is not just a profession. It is a work of the heart.
Nurses don’t simply “do tasks.”
They enter the hardest moments of people’s lives—birth, death, fear, injury, hope—and they carry those moments with them long after the shift ends.
Over the decades, I began to see a truth that broke my heart and strengthened my purpose:
Nurses care for everyone—except themselves.
We pour out compassion until we are empty.
We give our strength away, shift after shift.
We advocate fiercely for every patient—but struggle to advocate for our own well-being.
We hold suffering, grief, and chaos inside our bodies, yet rarely pause long enough to heal ourselves.
I saw nurses light up a room with their skill… and then go home exhausted, overwhelmed, and doubting themselves.
I saw brilliant new nurses lose confidence because no one taught them how to stay grounded under pressure.
I saw experienced nurses—some of the best I’ve ever known—leave the profession not because they lacked competence, but because they lacked support, emotional tools, and a safe place to restore their spirit.
And I kept thinking:
If I could sit beside these nurses—every one of them—I would tell them the truth they so often forget:
You are worthy of the same compassion you give to others.
But I can’t sit next to every nurse in every hospital.
So I began writing.
These Books Are My Way of Taking Care of You
Every page in the Mindful Nursing series is written with a single intention:
To help nurses stay whole in a profession that constantly asks them to break themselves into pieces.
These books are not about perfection.
They are not about performance.
They are about being human—fully human—in a job that exposes the soul to everything life and death can offer.
I wrote the Primer because I wanted every nurse—new or seasoned—to have a map back to themselves.
Not a textbook of tasks.
Not a manual of procedures.
But a gentle, honest reminder that clarity, presence, and emotional steadiness are as essential as any clinical skill.
I wrote the Affirmations because I wanted nurses to hear a kind voice—every week—when the world feels loud, demanding, and unforgiving.
A voice that says:
“You are capable.”
“You are allowed to rest.”
“You are growing.”
“You matter.”
I wrote the Lexicon because nurses deserve language that strengthens their understanding—not confuses it.
Words shape how we think.
Clear words create clear minds.
Clear minds save lives.
I wrote the Mnemonics, the Journal, the Planner, the Career Guide because nurses need not only emotional support—but practical, daily tools to thrive in real medical environments.
Tools that help them remember, organize, reflect, grow, and step into leadership.
I wrote the Case Studies and the Handbook because nursing education should elevate, empower, and prepare nurses for the realities of modern healthcare—not overwhelm them.
And I wrote the Anthology because nurses need to see themselves in each other’s stories—to know they are never alone.
Why These Books Matter
Over four and half decades, I have taught thousands of nurses.
I have stood beside them while:
- they saved a patient’s life
- they cried in the hallway
- they laughed with a family
- they questioned themselves
- they celebrated their first successful IV
- they held the hand of someone dying
- they lost hope
- they found it again
I have seen the entire spectrum of human experience reflected in the eyes of nurses.
And what I’ve learned is this:
Nurses are the heartbeat of healthcare, but the world rarely pauses long enough to care for the heart that keeps beating.
These books are my pause.
My offering.
My way of giving back to a profession that has given me everything.
They are written to:
- comfort
- guide
- steady
- strengthen
- uplift
- and remind nurses of their profound wort
Because nurses deserve a resource that understands not only their work—but their soul.
The Nurse of Nurses
People sometimes call me “the nurse of nurses.”
I never asked for that title, but I hold it close.
Because after forty years in the hospital—teaching, mentoring, advocating, and standing beside nurses through their hardest days—I know what it means:
It means I am trusted.
It means I am a protector.
It means I am a voice when theirs gets tired.
It means I carry their stories in my heart and treat them with reverence.
It means I give to nurses what they give to everyone else:
compassion, wisdom, and unwavering belief.
That is why I write.
Not to add more noise to the world.
Not to publish books for the sake of books.
But to leave something meaningful behind.
Something that will still be helping nurses long after I am no longer teaching in classrooms or walking the floors of a hospital.
My Promise
If you are a nurse reading this—wherever you are in your journey—this is my promise to you:
I will keep showing up for you.
I will keep writing for you.
I will keep advocating for you.
You are not alone, and you never have been.
These books are yours.
My experience is yours.
My heart is yours.
Thank you for letting me walk beside you for all these years.
And thank you for loving this profession enough to keep going, keep growing, and keep giving.
The world is better because you’re in it.
—Michele
RN, Nurse Educator
A nurse who will always believe in nurses
