Town Hall Seattle Science Series

Have you ever wondered what your nurses’ lives are like outside of the hospital? In a new memoir, Journal of a Black Queer Nurse, Nurse Britney Daniels divulges the details of her day-to-day life. From braving the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic to giving her own clothes to a patient who was unhoused to transporting bodies to overflowing morgues (and experiencing her own physical ailments as a result), to advocating for patients of color in the face of systemic racism and more, these unseen moments as a marginalized nurse inform her authorship while helping to illuminate just some of what goes on behind the scenes. Nurse Daniels identifies as a Black, masculine-presenting, tattooed lesbian from a working-class background. For the last five years, she has worked as an emergency room nurse. What began as a personal diary also became an instrument of healing from perpetual trauma wrought not only by what she witnessed in her career but stemming from how much she dared to care. The book may make you feel