Hello, I’m Tia
I love nursing.
I’m also very tired.
Both things can be true. That is why I wrote the book.
The honest version
I didn’t write this from a quiet distance.
I’m still working as an ICU nurse. I still know the sound of an alarm that follows you home, the strange importance of a reliable pen, and the particular optimism involved in making coffee you may never get to drink.
My nursing career has taken me through haematology and oncology, intensive care, clinical leadership and research. The work is skilled, demanding, funny, heartbreaking and deeply human—often during the same shift.
I started sharing nurse life online because the polished version did not feel honest enough. Nurses do extraordinary things, but we are not machines and we should not have to pretend otherwise. Sometimes resilience looks heroic. Sometimes it looks like sitting in the car for ten quiet minutes before driving home.
“The exhaustion is real. I’m still here. And I still love this job.”
Why this book?
Because nurses deserve to feel recognised.
Not managed. Not lectured. Recognised. I wanted to make room for the humour we use to survive, while speaking plainly about fatigue, boundaries, identity and change.
If you have ever whispered “I cannot do this anymore” and still returned for the next shift, this book is for you.
Meet the book
ICU Nurse Tia 