I’m a bedside hospital oncology nurse of almost 20 years so when I saw a book about helping nurses process trauma and burnout I grabbed it because boy, do I have both! While I have respect for what Dr Laws does here in her book I found it to be very confusing and very long. She seems to offer a way to help nurses deal with having too many patients especially new nurses but not really help those of us process our grief and trauma that we have carried for a long time which is what I thought this book was about. It’s not a bad mental health guide it’s just not the guide I expected or needed for me. But I’m sure there are plenty of nurses who need it.

Thanks for the arc I received via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Great educational resource! This was very helpful to gain some additional knowledge and shared what I learned with those at work it applies to.

Lorre Laws takes you through your nurse trauma in so many different ways. I was able to look at my trauma in a new light and make true meaningful change as I worked through this book. I will highly recommend this to my fellow nursing colleagues and future nurses I will teach.

Suppose you're concerned about the looming nursing crisis, especially the International Council of Nurses' prediction that by 2030, we’ll face a global shortage of nearly 14 million nurses. In that case, that’s almost half the current workforce—then Nursing Our Healer’s Heart: A Recovery Guide for Nurse Trauma & Burnout by Dr. Lorre Laws is a must-read. Set for release on January 1, 2025, this book is a wake-up call, and after reading an advance copy, I’m rethinking everything we’ve been doing in healthcare up to this point.

Dr. Laws delivers an urgent, compassionate call to action for nurses grappling with trauma, burnout, and the feeling that their work environment doesn’t see or value them. It’s a reality check for anyone in healthcare.

What are the key takeaways?
- Trauma and Burnout in Nursing: Nurses are being crushed by the weight of stress and trauma, often made worse by healthcare systems designed more for profit than for patient or nurse well-being.

- Systemic Issues: The book doesn't ignore hard truths. Nurses are not just overwhelmed; they feel betrayed by a system that’s supposed to protect them. They’re forced to take on unsafe workloads and endure violence in the workplace. This disconnect between their training and their actual conditions is driving burnout and mass departures from the profession.

- Healing the Healers: The main idea is that nurses need tools and support to heal from nurse-specific traumas. The author tackles everything from the legacy of workplace toxicity to the infamous “nurses eat their young” culture. Personally, my time in nursing school was disillusioning enough to push me toward another career in addition to watching my mom, an ICU Nurse, endure a terrible work-life balance.

- Nursing 2.0: Dr. Laws advocates a total paradigm shift—what she calls Nursing 2.0. This future vision focuses on nurse safety, well-being, and empowerment, driven by grassroots movements and top-down reforms. Sustainable change, she argues, will come from collaborative healing processes.

Who should read this book?
- Nurses: This book is like a road map for self-healing. It’s grounded in evidence-based practices and offers practical, integrative tools like journaling prompts and activities to help nurses reconnect with their inner selves. She emphasizes the importance of self-regulation, reconnection, and emotional restoration and backs it up with neuroscience.

- Hospital HR/Strategy Teams: The book isn’t just about personal healing—it’s a call for systemic change. Dr. Laws stresses that nurses can't afford to wait while we redesign the system. However, now is the time to rethink healthcare strategy beyond budgets and technology. As a patient, I’ve seen the rapid decline in care firsthand. We need to act now and reduce the impact of a system that has been traumatizing nurses for years.

What I loved about Nursing Our Healer’s Heart?
- Its focus on trauma-informed care is precisely what the healthcare industry needs. Dr. Laws offers a toolkit deeply rooted in nursing theory and neuroscience, helping nurses survive and thrive, even in hostile work environments.
- It’s hopeful, offering actionable steps forward. The book is packed with strategies based on integrative nursing principles—creating supportive nurse communities, healing systemic traumas, and exploring the patterns of trauma adaptation and resistance that keep nurses stuck.
This isn’t some superficial “resilience training.” Nurses who dive into this book will find meaningful, sustainable strategies for caring for their own emotional health and professional well-being.

In summary, Nursing Our Healer’s Heart is an essential read for any nurse struggling with modern healthcare's emotional and psychological burdens. It doesn’t just diagnose the crisis—it provides practical, well-researched strategies for healing individually and systemically. I highly recommend it to nurses, healthcare professionals, and healthcare leaders who are serious about addressing the root causes of nurse burnout and creating an environment where nurses can genuinely thrive.

This book was very easy to look at, the formatting and graphics were great. I really enjoyed this book, and will be getting a hard copy!