A care nurse who logged her countless days of the pandemic has released a book of what it was like working in the frontline in the wake of Covid-19.

Kelly Critcher, a palliative care nurse from Rickmansworth who supported terminal patients at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, wrote a memoir on her role during the pandemic.

The 42-year-old, a third-generation nurse following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, realised a long-held wish to write a book.

The book A Matter of Life and Death explores her frontline role in the fight against coronavirus, and the various other stories of supporting other terminal patients.

She said: “My friends and family have always been interested in my stories about work so I started writing them down a couple of years ago.

“I used the train journey to and from work to capture anything that had happened to me during the day and wrote it up in the evening when I could find an hour or two.

“I was surprised how much I forgot until I reread my notes, especially the emotion I was feeling at the time. It was cathartic writing the book but hard work.”

Northwick Park Hospital was one of the worst hit hospitals during the first wave as hospitals across the UK were unprepared for the impact of the pandemic.

In March, the hospital declared a ‘critical incident’ and patients were being transferred to neighbouring hospitals due to a surge of Covid patients.

After working tirelessly and logging these events, the book reflects how the nurse would battle for patients' lives, and then help face them down death with courage and compassion.

She then enlisted a ghost writer to help shape her story and secure a deal with publisher John Blake.

The nurse said: “It is a privilege to be a part of people’s lives at the most challenging of times and helping them understand their diagnosis and what it means for their future.

“Dying is a part of life and we help people live well until they die, such as supporting them at home if that is where they want to be.”

You can pre-order a copy of A Matter of Life and Death at: www.bit.ly/36EI9aX