The Care Factor
The Care Factor tells the story of one incredible nurse – one among many – who chose to meet an unprecedented global health crisis on the frontline.
Simone Sheridan has one of the most sought-after skills today. As a nurse, her skill is to care. When Covid-19 began to spread across the world in 2020, Sim volunteered to retrain to work in Melbourne’s intensive care units. And as she prepared to go back to ICU and case numbers began climbing, Sim started talking to her friend Ailsa. Through the exhaustion, the confusion, the many tears and the surprising moments of hilarity, Sim kept talking. And Ailsa started writing.
In The Care Factor, Ailsa walks behind Sim as she faces the realities of the coronavirus. The result is a deeply human account of what the pandemic has really meant, not just for Sim and her fellow health professionals, but also for their patients, their families and friends, and the many who faced life in lockdown. This is a celebration of nursing, of friendship, and of the layers of connection and care that allow us to keep going when it feels impossible.
Order nowWhat the critics say:
The Care Factor offers a rare and thrilling glimpse into the life of a frontline healthcare worker during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This book is brimming with spirit, guts, and empathy, and it humbled and moved me in so many ways. It taught me about the reality of what our heroic health workers face every day. It also taught me about friendship, about resilience and bravery, and about the human capacity for selflessness and care. If you need your faith in humanity restored in the wake of the pandemic, then this is the book for you!
—Emily Bitto, Stella Prize winning author of The Strays