Other Voices, Other Blogs

One of the many undone tasks that I carry around with me like so many virtual baglady encumbrances is the assembling of a blogroll for this site. Look to the right hand column and you’ll see that today my load is lighter.

These blogs and sites cover a wealth of ideas– from the ever-changing and ever-stimulating blog of Durham’s Medical Humanities department to the individuals who have set up blogs to reflect their personal interests and opinions (or vent a little spleen as in the case of The Grumpy RN) .

I’ve been putting out calls for nurses who write, not only through this blog, but also through guest posts at The Scottish Book Trust and writer’s magazine Mslexia. As I hoped, plenty of people have got in touch to alleviate my ignorance and point me to nurses who do write or sites that reflect the nursing experience.

I especially enjoyed Dovegreyreader, a blog by part-time community nurse Lynne Hatwell which has become very influential among publishers for its thoughtful book reviews, but also contains entertaining accounts of her nursing career. Annie Coops, both a nurse and a diabetes patient, uses her site to reflect on her experiences of caring received and caring given, while Nursing Writing, set up the University of Connecticut school of nursing is home to a range ‘scholarly and professional’ writing by nurses.

These and more riches – available at a click of the finger.

Sometimes, when I think of all the voices, all the opinions the web allows us to access, I have to go and lie down in the dark. Other times, it’s a giddy thrill.