Jenny White: Retired Nurse Brings Real World Experience into Gripping Medical Thrillers “Women Lifting Up Women” Series

By Jules Lavallee 

Jenny White is a retired Registered Nurse living in Southwestern Ontario.  She spent over 30 years working in various settings including hospitals: ICU’s, trauma units, surgical floors, as well as Public Health and Long-Term Care homes (nursing homes).

Having retired, she discovered that she had a brain tumor wrapped around her carotid artery in her brain, which was life threatening and required specialized surgery.  After her extensive surgery, she was comatose for days, and when she awoke, she found herself tied to the bed as she had become a disoriented patient, attempting to remove all of the medical tools keeping her alive. Her memories were gone, she did not recognize her husband at the bedside, and she had to relearn how to walk and talk.

Over the next year, Jenny had to reinvent herself. Her old hobbies and interests were gone, and she felt vulnerable and lost.  That was the turning point. She decided she was interested in writing her story.

As she learned the craft of writing by taking online courses during her rehabilitation, a spark was ignited and she began to write.

Her returning memories are slow, but are impacted by writing, slowly remerging from the past. Her experience is vast and she has many stories to tell.  She now writes Medical Thrillers.

Tell us about the reality of being a nurse and the day your life was changed.

Well, the realities of being a nurse are challenging Um .I’ve been retired for a few years now. But when I was actively working, there were huge expectations for nurses.

Nurses are expected to be able to really do the impossible with limited resources, limited staffing and very demanding patients Often the patients are very sick. And it’s hard to juggle multiple patients who are in pain or who are struggling in the emergency department or any floor for that matter.

 Against the administrative policies that have to be done, such as all of the charting and all of the organization, working with both the patients and their families Depending on where you’re working, The struggles are different. So for example In the emergency room where people are more critically ill. It’s important to be able to prioritize.

• To be able to juggle multiple competing demands including to work within a team. But also to be able to work independently
• to be able to identify those things that need to be done sooner than later,
•  Balancing the needs of the patient’s emotional and family’s emotional issues,
• answering questions.
• Getting procedures booked.

And more People are often very scared. They’re. Afraid. They’re cautious. They’re concerned about costs They’re concerned about their time being wasted and being seen in a timely way.

Life changed for me dramatically when I learned I had a brain tumor.  My carefree existence was gone, I was now going to imminently die if I didn’t have surgery. I had to find a top neurosurgeon who would take me on.  The first one said no.  The second one was willing to TRY with the understanding I might die.

As a nurse you know too much and not enough all at the same time.  You know the type of procedure, the possible outcomes and the possible complications.  It’s scary and daunting for everyone.

Your Medical Thrillers are captivating the hearts and minds of people across the country. Take us through your series. 

The debut book is called The Triggering Scent and introduces you to the protagonist throughout the series: Abbey Roberts RN.  Abbey is very much me, in that she works in an ICU, is very proud of her work saving lives, and I give her a brain tumor and outcomes similar to mine—but worse, to add to the complexity of the novel.  She attempts to return to her happy place—the ICU—after about a year of healing.  She realizes that her personality has changed, her likes and dislikes have changed and she is struggling with confidence, self esteem, self image and the capacity to return without anyone really knowing or understanding her limits.

What she discovers is that not only does she have to work with changes to memory, identity and fatigue, but she also is confronted by the one person who changed her forever—her neurosurgeon who botched her surgery.

As each book unfolds, Abbey is nursing in different environments and it raises questions about health care systems as well as safety of patients.  Book 2: Terror at the Manor, is a thriller about working and living in a nursing home.  Are residents safe?

Book 3 is currently in the works and is called “The final Consent.”  It will discuss the unregulated body parts industry.

Who do you want to thank during your challenging times? 

My husband, who has never left my side and has helped me reinvent myself, my family and friends for their support.

Was there someone who encouraged you to write your Medical Thrillers? 

When I was learning and taking classes online about how to write novels, one of the first lessons was to write about something you know.  For me, that was nursing and being a patient. Hence, the medical thrillers.  I always enjoyed the genre, but most medical thrillers are written by physicians, not by nurses and we approach medicine and healing in very different ways. My super power is bringing the nursing lens forward that looks at healing from all perspectives, not just physically: emotional healing and spiritual healing, family healing and support systems.

How important is gratitude?

I believe that gratitude is very important.  I believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience, and that means that the universe hears our thoughts and emotions. Positive thinking is key as well, to focus on things that bring expansion such as being thankful for all that we have, for having another day of life to do extraordinary things.

www.jennywhite.ca