A children’s book written by a nurse and her granddaughter is to be distributed to children across England as part of an initiative to promote nursing as a career.
Written by Louise Kirk and her granddaughter Ella Sharpe, Ella’s Grandpa goes Hippity Hop! aims to reflect the diverse and varied roles in the profession and demonstrate the opportunities that lie within nursing as a career.
Ella was just nine years old when she wrote the story, supported by Ms Kirk, who is a lead nurse for education and practice development at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
“Hopefully reading this book will plant a seed in someone’s mind about becoming a nurse in the future”
Michelle Rhodes
Ms Kirk explained that the book follows the story of main character, who shares the same name as her granddaughter and who is “not sure what she would like to be when she grows up”.
After her grandfather is involved in an accident, the fictional Ella meets a variety of nurses and is “amazed” at how many roles and opportunities there are in the profession.
Ms Kirk said: “Ella and I worked closely together to develop the story.
“We had a lot of fun creating the story and hope children will enjoy reading it.
“I hope that when parents, grandchildren [or] siblings read this book, it inspires young minds to think about nursing as a career.”
The publication of the book has been supported by NHS England’s NextGen nurse programme, which aims to introduce children and young people to nursing as a career by providing workshops in schools.
Ella’s Grandpa goes Hippity Hop! was written during a competition hosted by Nottingham University Hospitals where an expert panel made up of nurses, children and a children’s author chose the book from 11 submissions.
After selecting the winner, the Nottingham University Hospital team worked closely with lecturers and students at Nottingham Trent University before selecting illustration student Elizabeth Haynes’ designs to accompany the book.
Michelle Rhodes, chief nurse at the trust, said: “It’s fantastic to see Louise and Ella’s story brought to life by Elizabeth’s illustrations, and it’s great that chief nurses across England will be sending out copies of the book to care settings and schools.
“There are a huge range of different roles nowadays and hopefully reading this book will plant a seed in someone’s mind about becoming a nurse in the future.”