When reading real-life stories about nursing, you might not expect mentions of fox fur coats or cages full of snakes ("five feet long and very skinny"). Yet these amusing vignettes sit alongside harrowing tales of plane crashes and time-honoured memories of Florence Nightingale. Front Line Nursing Stories is a compelling anthology of first-hand accounts longtime nurse and author Marian Facciolo collected from women who have worked in hospitals, care homes, communities, and prisons from the 1940s to present day, coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The substance of these stories remain faithful to the nursing profession, without venturing too deep into technical terminology. At the same time, Facciolo asks readers to consider whether supports for the increased expectations of the profession (education, skills, workload) have kept pace. Front Line Nursing Stories is an eye-opening look at the evolution of healing as a profession, poignantly and pointedly shared through the eyes of women who have helped babies draw their first breaths and comforted palliative patients so they can die with dignity.

Facciolo's book, at its core, is a tribute to the power of compassion and humanity, perhaps at a time in the world when it is needed most.