Southcoast Health nurse, CNA combine to write/illustrate book for children with another on the way

According to Southcoast Health, soon after welcoming her daughter, Alisa Allison, a Registered Nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital, started looking for a children’s book that would help explain her role as a night shift nurse and why she wasn’t always home for bedtime.

“I couldn’t find anything out there, and I wanted my daughter to understand why I wasn’t home with her,” Alisa said. “That’s when this idea came to me!”

After months of searching and no luck, Alisa took matters into her own hands and began writing the very book she had been looking for.

“Mom is a Night Shift Nurse”, tells an imaginative story of a mother’s night as a nurse caring for a dragon with an upset tummy, a princess whose heart flutters, and even a pirate with a new peg leg that needs bandages. It highlights the important work these nurses do while everyone is fast asleep.

But, like any other children’s book, it needed illustrations. Turning to her team, Alisa asked Anita Machado, a night-shift Certified Nursing Assistant and a mom of four to help her finish this important task. “I had seen Anita’s drawings around our nurses’ station and knew she’d be the perfect person to help bring this story to life.”

The two put their extraordinary talents together to produce the well-received children’s book, which now gives other night shift nursing moms something to share with their own children.

“When Alisa approached me about doing the illustrations, I was excited! I had only drawn as a hobby and it’s something I’ve always loved to do,” Anita said. “Alisa started something great, and together, we brought it to where it is now. I am thankful that she encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and pursue this hobby.”

Alisa and Anita are already working on their second book, “ABC’s in the Hospital.”

“Mom is a Night Shift Nurse” can now be found on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions and will soon be in Southcoast Health gift shops.