Beatriz Paloma: " 'Diary of a Nurse' seeks to raise awareness of nursing and give visibility to our profession".

The Nuevo Casino of Pamplona hosted the presentation of the book Diario de una enfermera: historias de vida, written by Beatriz Paloma, nurse of the Clínica Universidad de Navarraand José Lacarra, graduate in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Navarra. "When I watched cartoons with my children, I realized that none of them were nurses, and I set out to show the reality of nursing through this book. I wanted to make this profession known, to give visibility to what we do," says Beatriz.

For his part, José Lacarra emphasizes: "I had not had the opportunity to get to know nursing up close, I have always been focused on my programs of study. But Beatriz, when she asked me to participate, conveyed to me the excitement of the profession".

Part of the profits from the book will be donated to Niños Contra el Cáncer. The book has illustrations by the nurse from Clínica Universidad de Navarra Marta López: "During the COVID I used to draw characteristic aspects of the patient or of what was happening on the ward, apart from the reports. When Beatriz proposed me to participate in the book, at first I hesitated, but my colleagues pushed me and I said yes. I did a lot of fieldwork work in other areas to represent the characters well". In this aspect, Beatriz points out that "illustration has always been importantto me.I was presented with several proposals, but they didn't convince me. Then I thought that the person who could best capture them was through Marta's drawings and I did not hesitate to propose it to her".

365 days of nursing

The book tells several stories that are compiled over the course of an entire year: "When I reread Miguel Delibes' Diario de un cazador, because of its simplicity, it occurred to me to follow the same style," says Lacarra, "and we integrated several stories of nurses into a one-year story.

Experiences and ideas such as conciliation or gratitude are also reflected in this work: "I think it is very important for nurses to take care of patients and their families and to accompany them despite the difficulties," says Beatriz. "Nurses normalize a lot of what we do and we are not aware of the greatness of our work until we receive a thank you, a letter or a box of chocolates", emphasizes Marta López.