Receive, So You May Give is a lovely resource for supporting the resilience and well-being of nurses. It is written by a nurse who spent many years on the front lines of medical care and now shares her own story of transformation in how she views her own wellness and professional life. Both practical and poetic, it reads like an intimate conversation with fellow nurses that invites them to honor the rich traditions of their field as they honor and care for themselves. It can be perused in a single sitting, but is really best savored chapter by chapter with particular attention to the specific self-care exercises that accompany each topic. “You have one precious life, and you are in charge of it,” says Ms. Morrissette. This book gives fellow nurses some fine thought-provoking ideas on how to pursue this.

Frederic C. Craigie, Jr., PhD

Psychologist/Consulting Faculty,
Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency
Visiting Associate Professor, Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine

As I read through this caring, thoughtful, pearl of a book, I appreciated the universality of problems encountered in the nursing and larger world and the need to create healthful strategies for living in our crazy world. I also reflected, as a newly retired nurse, that managing stress and stressors doesn’t stop when you leave the workplace. Many of us hard-working nurses may re-create the same busy unmindful world in retirement! This book is a brief call for empowering our “selves” to create a more peaceful, joyful alternative.

Cynthia B. Hughes,
EdD, PPCNP-BC, RN, Professor Emeritus at California State University Los Angeles