Michael Rosen on life, death and the power of nursing

When author and poet laureate Michael Rosen contracted COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic he was put into an induced coma and told he had just a 50% chance of waking up. 

For 40 days the author lay ventilated and unconscious at Whittington Hospital in North London. Meanwhile his nurses working in the Intensive Care Unit kept detailed daily diaries of his progress, often sharing personal details of their own pandemic journeys and encouraging him on to ‘keep fighting’ as he battled for his life. 

Following his long recovery, Mr Rosen collected the diary entries to create a heartwarming book ‘Many Different Kinds of Love: A story of life, death and the NHS,’ about his experience, which gives a glimpse into the NHS on the frontline during that turbulent time. 

On 10 November Mr Rosen attended RCNi’s inaugural Nursing Live to read extracts from the book. Ahead of his talk he joined senior reporter Alison Stacey to record this episode of the Nursing Standard podcast. 

Here he tells the story of his near-death experience with COVID-19, along with his unwavering support for nurses during the historical strikes announced one year ago.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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