Inspiring Young Minds And Healing Hearts
Kim Sloan shares her journey as a travel ICU nurse, her pandemic memoir, and her children’s book series, blending compassion, creativity, and a love for exploration into her writing.
Kim Sloan is a name that resonates with resilience, compassion, and an unyielding passion for storytelling. A seasoned travel ICU nurse with over 17 years of experience, Kim has not only dedicated her life to saving others but has also channelled her extraordinary journey into the written word. Her memoir, Memoirs From The Frontlines: Four States, Two Years, One Pandemic, is a poignant and deeply moving account of her experiences during one of the most challenging periods in modern healthcare. Garnering critical acclaim and multiple awards, including the 2024 Bookfest Silver Award and the Goody Business Book Award, this work has struck a chord with readers worldwide, offering both insight and solace to those who lived through the pandemic and those who seek to understand its impact.
Beyond her memoir, Kim’s creativity shines in her delightful children’s book series, Billy Bob’s Adventures. Inspired by her and her husband’s motorcycle travels across all 50 states, this series invites young readers to explore the wonders of geography, history, and culture through the eyes of Billy Bob, their adventurous biker gnome. With eleven books already published, along with a toddler-friendly alphabet and numbers edition, Kim’s work is a testament to her love for exploration and her desire to inspire curiosity in the next generation. Her budding holiday series further showcases her versatility as an author, with Halloween and Thanksgiving tales already captivating young audiences.
Kim’s ability to weave her professional expertise, personal passions, and life experiences into her writing is nothing short of remarkable. Whether she’s chronicling the harrowing realities of the pandemic or sparking wanderlust in children through her whimsical stories, Kim Sloan’s voice is one that educates, inspires, and uplifts. It is an honour to feature her in this issue of Reader’s House, where she shares her journey, her insights, and the indomitable spirit that defines her work.
“Kim Sloan’s heartfelt storytelling and dedication to both nursing and writing inspire readers of all ages with her remarkable journey.“
Editor, Reader’s House
What inspired you to write a children’s book about your motorcycle travels, and how did you come up with the idea for “Billy Bob’s Adventures”?
We began traveling on motorcycles in 2013. We love to travel and have ridden our motorcycle in all 50 states. Billy Bob is our biker gnome who travels with us. I wrote the children’s book series to encourage children and their parents to travel and explore this beautiful country more.
As a travel ICU nurse, what are some of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of your job, and how do you balance work with your passion for travel?
The combination of rewards and challenges with our job as travel nurses is truly what keeps us in the profession. Although, the rewards are much more substantial including meeting new people, learning new cultures, and learning new skills after 17 years of nursing. The challenges include learning new charting systems, which I believe we have learned just about all of them after eight years of travel nursing and learning the doctor’s preferences at each hospital. We balance the two by exploring and learning the history of the area on our days off.
“Billy Bob is our biker gnome who travels with us. I wrote the children’s book series to encourage families to explore this beautiful country.”
– Kim Sloan
How do you and your husband manage to maintain a home in Ohio while traveling the country in your RV, and what advice would you give to other nurses considering a similar lifestyle?
We are lucky to have adult children living in our home in Ohio. We pay the mortgage while they pay the remaining bills. The economy is difficult for a single young adult to live on their own anymore. It’s a win-win situation for all involved. We try to go home for a short visit in between our assignments every three months.
My advice for those considering this lifestyle is to not make any big purchases, like an RV, initially as travel nursing is not for everyone. Being away from family can be difficult at times. Be prepared to be away from family and friends for months at a time. While your career continues, life at home with your family also continues.
Can you share some memorable experiences or stories from your travels across all fifty states, particularly any that have influenced your work or personal life?
The reason we travel is to see and learn as much as we can about the country, locations and all of the cultures that make this country amazing. While we are on assignment, in different locations, we enjoy exploring the local history. Learning about the local cultures, helps us to be more empathetic for our patients and their families.
What motivated you to document your experiences during the pandemic in a memoir, and how did the process of writing help you in your own healing journey?
When the pandemic began, my husband and I were working in southern Georgia. The hospital quickly became a hot spot losing patients daily to the virus. I felt it was important to keep my family up to date since they were in Ohio, and most were not in healthcare.
When I began to put the book together, I would read each section to my husband who then would correct, add, reflect or clarify the information. We would cry together once again while reading the entry, along with adding my thoughts to each page. This process was very therapeutic. I was able to reflect on my Facebook posts that I hadn’t read in years. In addition, I was able to put on paper my thoughts of why I felt the way that I did at the time of the post.
Can you share some of the most impactful or memorable moments you experienced while working on the frontlines during the pandemic in different states?
There are so many memorable moments to consider. One of the most impactful moments was the recovery of my first COVID patient, Laconyea. She was one of the only patients that survived the first round of patients in March 2020. After 72 days in the hospital, she walked out of the hospital into the arms of her son. Every time I saw that she was improving, I saw hope! There was so little hope in the beginning of the pandemic.
How did the challenges of working in various states during the pandemic differ, and what were some of the commonalities you observed in the healthcare response across these locations?
The challenges of working different assignments, in different states throughout the country, as the pandemic continued changed. When we were working in Tennessee, during the summer of 2020, the virus hadn’t hit the area yet, so the doctors were not as experienced in dealing with the infection. This was a challenge for us because we could see the virus beginning in the patient early due to our experience in Georgia. The doctor’s were reluctant to receive our input and were slower to react to our suggestions. On the other hand, when we were in Washington state, during the summer of 2021, the doctor’s welcomed our experience and knowledge with treating the virus as they were beginning to really see the virus during that time.
What message or insights do you hope readers will take away from your memoir, especially those who have also faced difficult times during the pandemic?
I hope the readers will see and understand why so many in healthcare are different mentally than they were prior to the pandemic. Mental health and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are a part of our lives after dealing with so much death constantly. Similar to a soldier returning from war, we are now veterans of the COVID pandemic. I also hope those who experienced the pandemic as we did, find the light in the darkness and realize they are not alone in their memories and/or struggles.
