Rasa Kabaila says becoming a nurse was "the best decision I've made in my life". But after seeing new graduates suffering burnout or dropping out, she wanted to help people to better understand the profession — so she wrote a book.

Put some Concrete in your Breakfast: Tales from Contemporary Nursing follows Ms Kabaila's own journey, from the challenges she faced in her early career and mistakes she made along the way, to where she has landed now as a nurse practitioner. The book provides a collection of stories that concentrate on nursing, that validates, educates and encourages those undertaking a career in nursing. In addition, this book also celebrates the amazing rewards that the unique career of nursing has to offer, for those who can find a way to persevere through the challenges.

Rasa wanted to capture the honest and raw stories she felt were important for new or aspiring nurses to hear in this sincere yet honest representation of modern nursing in all its forms rather than purely focusing only on the ‘good’ ‘the funny’ ‘the sad’ or the ‘ugly’.

Rasa Kabaila is a Nurse Practitioner and Credentialed Mental Health Nurse through the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses. She is the leading practitioner and researcher for a depression clinic (OptiMA2 and OptiMA3 trials). This health pathway and research project was the runner up for the Mid North Coast Innovation in Health Prize in 2022. Rasa is also a Conjoint Lecturer at UNSW as she supports and educates the 4th year UNSW medicine students involved in the OptiMA2 and OptiMA3 trial research. Outside of academic writing, Rasa has written articles for the Australian Lithuanian newspaper Musu Pastoge. Furthermore, she enjoys keeping a personal travel blog, which she has continued over several years. Rasa also regularly writes and perform poetry. Some of my poetry has been published in Tamba magazine and the Poetica Christi anthology, she has also won several of the Slamboree poetry slam competitions in Canberra. Rasa keeps a regular poetry blog on the international poetry forum Write Out Loud. In 2022 Rasa began a new chapter in her career, starting her own practice as a Nurse Practitioner specialising in mental health.