"I can't count how many times I shed tears while reading it." "A life-changing book that needs no words." "A book for nurses who urgently need care right now." "A heartwarming, must-read for all Koreans, it reveals the realities of nursing." (From reader reviews)

This is a revised edition of the book "I am a Nurse, a Human," which has garnered sympathy and support from countless readers for its honest portrayal of the joys and sorrows of nurses and their work environments, previously overlooked, based on the life and experiences of a veteran nurse who tirelessly cared for patients in a university hospital surgical intensive care unit for 21 years and 2 months.

The story of how she decided to become a nurse and ended up writing the 'Nurse's Letter' that moved the entire nation, the story of how she struggled to improve the treatment of nurses but was ultimately frustrated by the poor working environment that never improved, and the figures of nurses who tenaciously care for 'their sick patients' in the intensive care unit where they fight against death 24 hours a day and live with a single sense of mission to save even one more life are depicted more dramatically than any movie or drama.

People call them 'angels in white', but in reality, they are called 'warriors of a hundred days' because they have to do 100 things in the field. People who live a life where they do not allow themselves to make a single mistake, nor can they be permitted to do so.
This is a Korean nurse.

“I owe 230,000 won in overdue insurance premiums, and I need to pay that to receive insurance benefits.”
"ah……."
“Come back with 230,000 won.”
It was a time when high school tuition for one semester was 100,000 won.
When the tuition notice came, my mother had to go around borrowing money for several days.
Sometimes, it wasn't that expensive to go to the hospital.
The office worker emphasized to me again that there was no other way than to bring the money, as I was unable to turn back.
The alley leading out from the community center felt endlessly long.
The dazzlingly clear and bright sunlight filled my face, but I had to stop every now and then to wipe away the tears that suddenly burst out.


I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't think I could make money that way right away.
My mother also wanted me to go to college, but we weren't in a position to retake the college entrance exam.
It had to be something I could safely enter into sexually and something that would be helpful to my family.
The word that came to mind in that brief moment was 'nurse'.
Then, even without health insurance, wouldn't I be able to provide my mother with most of the treatment she needs?
That's when I firmly decided to become a nurse.
Looking back now, it was a naive thought, but I was that desperate.
At that time, I was only eighteen years old.
--- pp.22~23

“Hey, what are you doing? I’m your patient!!”
The seniors who came running prepared endotracheal intubation and called the attending physician.
Another senior patient jumped onto the patient's chest in place of me, who was standing there dumbly, and shouted while pressing hard on the heart.

“What are you doing! One epinephrine, quick!!!”
My hands were shaking as I measured out the medicine with the syringe.
Thanks to the seniors' quick response, the patient was able to overcome the crisis safely, but I had to receive a severe reprimand from them.

“What the hell are you doing!! You almost lost your patient!”
"sorry."
“It’s a matter of life and death.
okay?"
A feeling of guilt came over me.
That's right.
The patient almost died.
Because I was clumsy and scared.


The senior's agitated voice softened a little, perhaps because he felt sorry for me, who was cowering so much.
“Your brain will die in four minutes.
Even if I survive, I'll have to spend the rest of my life lying down.
Every time a patient's heart stops, the nurse in charge freezes and the longer it takes, the more the patient becomes like that.
If you don't know what to do, just stick with it.
Run to me.
“The closer you are to your patient, the higher your patient’s chances of survival.”
From then on, I would always cling to the patient when CPR started.
Even though I was so flustered that I couldn't think of anything to do, I rushed in with my body first.
What my senior said was right.
Every time I pressed the heart that had stopped beating, I desperately wanted him to come back, and I began to think about what I should do to save him.
Then things quickly and naturally took hold of me.
You had to be really close to save that patient.
It was the same for my body as well as my mind.

--- pp.36~37

The profession of a nurse is one in which one must receive proper care before being able to provide the same care to patients.
Giving endless care to my patients without anyone's protection or care was something that ate away at my soul over time.
I tried to pretend to be cheerful, to pretend to be okay, to smile at my patients and not let go of their hands, but the more I did that, the more I was crumbling inside.

It took me a very long time to realize that.
My belief that I should only do my best for the patients entrusted to me at the hospital was wrong.
Unlike doctors, whose every action is monetized, everything a nurse does is included in the patient's hospitalization fee.
Even though I, a nurse, was the first to discover cardiac arrest and jumped on top of the patient, quickly starting cardiac massage and reviving them, even though I stamped my feet and chased the attending physician with the prescription to save the patient in danger, bringing the half-asleep doctor to sit in front of the patient, even though I meticulously checked all the items and medical devices that could determine the patient's life in case of an emergency, even though I prepared every tool and assisted the attending physician perfectly so that he could perform a high-risk procedure on the patient, even though I shaved my deceased patients' last for fear of looking shabby, and even though I stuck my head into their torn anus and washed the feces flowing out dozens of times, anxious to avoid any blemishes in their final appearance, everything I did was lumped together and included in the name of hospitalization fees.


If the hospital didn't make money, nothing the nurses did for the patients got noticed.
Nurses who were 'unprofitable' were increasingly becoming the common people, and it was taken for granted that they would work overtime, and after work, they had to become janitors to cover the cleaning service costs.
Who would think that I, crouching with my head bowed under the bed of the patient I was caring for, would be a nurse who cared for them?

--- pp.58~59

CPR began again.
No matter what the world was like, the intensive care unit was still busy.
It was already the third time.
As soon as cardiac arrest occurred, I jumped on top of the patient and pressed down on the heart with all my strength.
When the attending physician arrived, we prepared to perform endotracheal intubation immediately and quickly injected emergency medication into the patient's body with a syringe.
After taking the central venous catheter and moving it to the cart, I checked the blood pressure.
My hands became faster as I prepared the vasopressor to raise the low blood pressure and hung the IV regulator next to the patient.
While the attending physician was looking for a central vein, he inserted a needle into a vein in my arm so that two packs of red blood cells could be injected simultaneously.
Sweat dripped from my forehead and fell into my eyes, stinging them.
The patient's heart started beating again.


“You are the child who fights the Grim Reaper.”
An old woman who had been watching me for a long time spoke to me as I wiped the sweat running down my eyes.
At that moment, my heart, which had been torn between hopeful and skeptical, felt a weight sink into my chest.
That's right.
I was the one who protected my patients.
I had forgotten about it for a moment.
There was no time to go back and forth between hope and skepticism in order to save them.
My grandmother's words stayed in my heart for a very long time, and I truly became a 'nurse who fights the Grim Reaper' for my patients.

--- pp.89~90