The Next Shift : A mentorship workbook for EMTs and Paramedics

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve been carrying more weight than you let on. Maybe you feel lost because you just started, or you’ve been the one everyone leans on. Maybe you’ve been pushing through one more shift, one more student question, one more problem at work… telling yourself you’re “fine.”

I wrote The Next Shift for you.

This isn’t a leadership manual, and it’s not another “self-care” lecture from someone who doesn’t get what this job feels like. It’s a collection of the real conversations we never had in paramedic school, the ones about boundaries, burnout, conflict, confidence, compassion fatigue, rebuilding trust, and finding joy again when the job has taken more from you than you expected.

Inside these pages, you’ll find stories… honest ones. The kind that make you nod in recognition because you’ve lived some version of them yourself. Stories about mistakes, about learning to say no, about leading without a title, about carrying guilt, about being the strong one for too long, and about rediscovering the parts of this profession that once lit you up.

But more importantly, you’ll find tools.

Tools to help you communicate without chaos.
Tools to protect your energy without losing your passion.
Tools to become the kind of mentor, partner, and provider you’re proud to be.
Tools to turn experience into wisdom — and wisdom into longevity.

Every chapter ends in reflection, because you don’t grow by reading…
you grow by being honest with yourself.

I hope this book feels like a conversation in the cab after a tough call.
Like the kind of talk that doesn’t just validate what you’re feeling — but helps you move toward who you want to become.

You deserve that.
Your next shift deserves that.
And the version of you that still loves this work deserves that too.

See you on the next shift,
Sophie