About Me
I have been a nurse for over 25 years, but a writer for as long as I can remember. As a young child, I wrote short stories and plays, mostly featuring my pet hamsters, and as I got older, poetry. I feel most alive when working to transform thoughts into language, and my house is littered with random scraps of paper with jottings of images or ideas for a line of a poem yet to be fully formed. Many mentors and peers have helped guide and shape my writing along the way, and I am grateful for the invaluable support of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Lighthouse Poetry Collective. I live with my family in Charlottesville, Virginia and am faculty at the UVA School of Nursing.
Poetry
My first collection of poetry, Cardinal Marks (Finishing Line Press, 2021) explores how we navigate the turbulent waters of loss and pain, and the unexpected guideposts that chart a path towards clarity and solid ground. I am currently working on a full collection, Care, a reckoning, which evolved during my year-long workshop with the Lighthouse Poetry Collective and invites the reader to examine what care is, the many ways it shows up – or doesn’t – and the ways in which caring, both professionally and personally, can haunt or delight us.
Care, a reckoning aims to explore the challenges and unexpected discoveries that accompany both giving and receiving care, and an individual’s agency, or lack thereof, in that journey. Read poems from the Patients I Cannot Forget series included in the full collection and other published poems here.
Non-Fiction
My non-fiction writing focuses on my global health research in India (Caring in Context, An Ethnography of Cancer Nursing in India, Routledge Press; 2024). I intentionally wrote Caring in Context in an accessible style to appeal to a wide audience and raise awareness about how much of the world experiences cancer. While you may find the book of particular interest if you are a healthcare provider or global health advocate, you will enjoy the book if you know nothing about these topics (I promise!). All you need to enjoy Caring in Context is an interest in the human condition and an openness to learning about those who may experience life differently than you.
Importantly, this book challenges beliefs and assumptions about the moral obligations of nursing practice and asks readers to reconsider how we can expect nurses to care for others when no one is caring for them. The detailed Methods section and real-life examples also make Caring in Context perfect for assigned reading in courses about qualitative research, ethnography, global health, cancer care, palliative care, and health disparities. Read chapter excerpts (1, 2, 3) to learn more.