Lockdown writing casts light on Fife nurse’s long career

Lorna Finlay shares some of her tales and encounters with other people in the books which she wrote during lockdown.

The advanced nurse practitioner at Victoria Hospital has already published the first two books – ‘Nurse will my sperm go green?’ and ‘Bridging the Void’ – which have been receiving good reviews.

She is now working on the third in the series, which is as yet unnamed.

Lorna (60) explained: “I decided to write them a lot of years ago, I’m a bit of a storyteller and I’ve had an interestign and varied career.

“I would tell people about certain people and characters I’d met and they’d say ‘you should write a book’.

“I started writing things down and I left them dormant for a time.

“Then during lockdown there wasn’t a lot to do. I was working right through, but only part time so I decided to write the book.

“I wrote the first one and had material left over, so I decided to keep writing more.”

Lorna started training as a nurse before going into midwifery and working at Forth Park Hospital.

She later set up Fife Nursing Services, providing care for seriously ill children in their own homes.

The mum -of-three went on to become a director at Four Seasons Healthcare as well as spending time teaching college students.

She now works as an advanced nurse practitioner in the neonatal team at Victoria Hospital – her experiences in this role as a neonatal nurse provide the inspiration for her third book in the series.

She continued: “It’s about the people I’m working with just now and it’s funny because they keep asking me when I’m going to publish it as they wondering if they are going to be in it.

“As well as the stories about some of the characters I’ve worked with and encountered during my career, the books also touch on the changes in nursing over the years.”

With books one and two already published, Lorna is delighted with the feedback she’s been receiving.

“People like a laugh and they like hearing other people’s stories,” she said.

“I’ve had a really good response so far. The reviews have been really good.

“People have liked reading about the characters and the changes in history.

“People have really enjoyed them and I’m really pleased about that.”

But for Lorna, who is always looking for something new to do, she plans to continue writing.

She added: “I really enjoy writing. I don’t think I will ever win the Booker Prize for Literature, but there will be more in future.

“I’ve had an idea for some children’s books, I’m just looking to team up with someone to illustrate them for me.”