Currently
Interviewing participants
Sustainable Care
A project gathering the real experiences of healthcare professionals who have lived through burnout — in their own words, at their own pace.
Why this exists
Most of what has been written about burnout in healthcare focuses on workload, staffing ratios, and organisational structures. All of it matters. And none of it is the whole story.
What is almost never addressed is what happens on the inside — the identity that becomes inseparable from the role, the self-worth tied to the capacity to give, the moment when the body finally says no while the mind is still saying yes. And the long, quiet process of finding your way back to yourself afterward.
"There is an enormous amount of knowledge and experience living inside the people who have been through this. Sustainable Care exists to bring it into the open — carefully, honestly, and with full respect for everyone who shares their story."
This project is driven by one central conviction: that the people who have lived through burnout in healthcare are not just survivors of a difficult experience. They are carriers of some of the most important knowledge we have about what is broken in the system — and what genuine recovery actually looks like.
Their stories deserve to be heard. And they deserve to be heard fully — not reduced to statistics, not sanitised into case studies, but kept alive in the texture and truth of their own words.
What this will become
The conversations gathered through Sustainable Care will form the foundation of a book — one that holds both the individual human experience and the systemic forces that shape it. Written for healthcare professionals, for their families, for managers and leaders, and for anyone who has ever wondered why the people who care for others so rarely know how to receive care themselves.
A book that takes the inner life of the healthcare professional seriously — as something worth understanding, something worth honouring.
You choose your own level of anonymity. If you choose anonymity, all direct identifiers — your name, workplace, clinic name, geographic location and any other details that could reveal your identity — will be changed or removed from the final manuscript. You also have the right to review the passages drawn from your interview before they are included, and to request corrections. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you can withdraw at any time, up until the manuscript goes to print.
Who we are looking for
Nurses, physicians, psychologists, physiotherapists, midwives, social workers, paramedics, or any other healthcare role. In Sweden or internationally.
You may have been formally signed off sick, quietly stepped back, changed roles, or simply know what it feels like to run completely empty — your experience is relevant.
Some time and distance from the most acute phase is helpful — enough that you have begun to find your footing again, even if the path is still unfolding.
Not everyone who has been through burnout wants to talk about it — and that is completely understandable. But if part of you feels that your story could help others, this might be the right place.
What to expect
You reach out by email or LinkedIn. We have a short, informal conversation to make sure this feels right for you — no pressure, no commitment at this stage.
Before we meet, you receive a set of questions to sit with at your own pace. They are an invitation to reflect — not homework. You take what feels alive and leave the rest.
Online, in Swedish or English, at a time that works for you. The conversation follows your story — beginning where you choose to begin, going as deep as you are comfortable going.
Nothing is published without your explicit written consent. You review how your story is represented. Anonymity is the default — your name and identifying details are protected unless you explicitly choose otherwise.
About this project
Sustainable Care is led by Sandra Qian Jernkrok, in collaboration with like-minded clinical colleagues. It is not a commercial project — it exists because the stories it gathers need to exist.
Sandra brings both clinical training and personal experience to this work. She has spent thousands of hours in adult psychiatry and understands, from the inside, what it means to give everything to a system that rarely asks how you are doing.
Credentials
Get in touch
If something here has resonated — or if you have questions before deciding — please reach out. Making contact carries no commitment of any kind.
sandrajernkrok@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/sandra-qian-jernkrok
Conversations in Swedish or English · Full confidentiality from the first contact