Flourish: Thriving as nurses against the odds: a practical and emotional guide

Flourish for Nurses is both realistic and hopeful. It weaves together stories and research evidence to take a candid look at the physiological realities of being a nurse, while offering tools to renew clarity, energy and motivation.

We know how challenging it can feel right now to go beyond 'survival' in healthcare. Flourish aims to support you as a nurse to do two things: to name what's going on around you and within you, then to find and claim your distinctive place in the nursing world.

You might be a newly qualified or early career nurse facing the challenges of finding your voice as well as your feet. Maybe you're an established nurse but feel as though you have lost your way – and with it the energy to reshape either yourself or the environment you work in. Perhaps you're a team leader seeking to find the vocabulary to connect with your team, acknowledge what they might be feeling and reach out for resources and tools to support them to thrive, reflect and grow.

As a guidebook, Flourish is a tour of discovery that reveals how 'standard' nursing environments and practices might be impacting you personally, and then invites you to reconnect with the core of your personality and purpose. You'll recognise more clearly the realities of trauma exposure, burnout, empathic strain and moral injury, and explore what's really needed for psychological safety. You'll choose from an array of exercises to practice living well in the day to day, and you'll find a way back 'home', to a place where your sense of motivation for being a nurse is rekindled - a place where you can reconnect to your values, strengths and your unique voice. Once there, you will be able to make real, rich choices about your life and your career.

About the Authors:

Clare Cable is a nurse and facilitator, she brings creativity and wisdom to enabling nurse leaders at all stages of their career to achieve their full potential.

Kate Greenstock is a distinctive combination of practising midwife and coach, bringing the flavours of both: reality and possibility; rawness and hope.

A practising midwife, coach and facilitator, Kate is a persistent city dweller who seeks out green space, fresh air and wild water wherever she can. As a midwife she worked until recently within a continuity of carer team in London; as a coach she supports nurses, midwives and other bright sparks in healthcare to creatively re-imagine their work lives. She brings an absolute conviction that there is no substitute in the world for you, and your unique voice. She has lived and worked in Japan, Iran, the UAE, and India, and is based until 2027 in Delhi supporting practice development for nurses and doctors in the Indian Government maternity system.

Kate is an experienced Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF). She is also a Firework licensed career coach and facilitator of Systemic Constellations. She is a skilled convenor of groups, shaping leadership development environments for healthcare professionals. She enjoys creating reflective spaces, facilitates Schwartz Rounds (exploring the emotional impact of healthcare work) for her home NHS Trust, and is a Professional Midwifery Advocate (PMA). She holds an MA (Oxon) in Modern History, a DipHE. in Antenatal Education, BSc.(Hons) in Midwifery and MSc. in Global Maternal Health.

Human woman, artist, producer, contemplative, always curious, sometimes misguided.

36 years a nurse, Clare has spent most of her career in healthcare quality improvement and policy. She spent the last decade honing her leadership skills as Chief Executive and Nurse Director of the Queen's Nursing Institute Scotland where she reintroduced the Queen's Nurse Title through a nine-month transformational development programme. Since October 2024 she has been the Chief Executive of the Burdett Trust for Nursing where her vision is to enable nurses to be innovators and entrepreneurs; shaping a healthier, kinder, fairer society ... one conversation at a time.

In 2016, Clare was awarded a Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership Scholarship which enabled her to undertake the King's Fund Top Managers programme – her own year long journey of discovery. She also had the opportunity to undertake the Presencing Institute Foundation programme which helped deepen her understanding of awareness-based change. She is a trained multicultural wellness practitioner with Capacitar International and recently completed the Inner MBA with the Sounds True Foundation. She holds an Honorary Professorship in Nursing at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh and is a Visiting Professor at the University of the Highlands and Islands.