R.E. Hengsterman
About
R.E. Hengsterman is a registered nurse, medical writer, Pushcart Prize–nominated, award-winning fiction writer, and educator with more than three decades of experience in healthcare. His writing bridges the clinical and the creative, appearing in more than fifty literary journals and magazines including Across The Margin, Maudlin House, Bluntly Magazine, Eunoia Review, Queen Mob’s Tea House, Barren Magazine, Riggwelter, Phenomenal Literature, Former Cactus, The Airgonaut, and The Blotter Magazine. His work spans the boundaries between storytelling and science—bringing empathy to evidence and narrative to data.
He is the author of The Shift Worker’s Paradox, a work of narrative nonfiction that blends science, lived experience, and practical strategy to explore the hidden costs of life against the clock. His forthcoming second edition of The Paper Boy and The Winter War continues his exploration of memory, resilience, and small-town American life.
R.E. Hengsterman holds master’s degrees in Nursing Education (MSN), Innovation, Leadership & Entrepreneurship (M.E.), and the Arts (MA). Influenced by Denis Johnson, Mohsin Hamid, and Alice Walker, his fiction seeks emotional truth; his nonfiction, intellectual clarity. He lives and writes in North Carolina, dividing his time between research and story—between the night shift and the page.
The Shift Worker's Paradox
“Working nights doesn’t just steal your sleep—it rewrites your biology.”
Inside You’ll Discover:
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How night shifts hijack your biology—and ways to outsmart the hidden damage.
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Evidence-based strategies for sleep, nutrition, and exercise tailored to rotating and overnight schedules.
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Mental health tools to fight fatigue, anxiety, and burnout.
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Protocols for long-term protection, from cardiovascular health to hormone balance.
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Actionable hacks you can implement before your next shift.
Blending medical insight, frontline storytelling, and compassionate guidance, this book offers more than survival—it’s a blueprint for reclaiming your health, performance, and quality of life. If you’ve ever asked, “How do I make this work without breaking myself?” this book has your answer.
Why You Should Read This Book?
Because your health shouldn’t be the cost of your career. If you’ve ever dragged yourself into work exhausted, felt your body unravel from sleepless nights, or wondered how long you can keep going, this book gives you a roadmap. You’ll learn how to protect your mind, body, and spirit—even when the schedule seems stacked against you.
Read If You Like:
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Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker — but want strategies tailored to night-shift life.
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Breath by James Nestor or How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan — science-driven books that blend storytelling with practical tools.
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Frontline memoirs that don’t just explain the problem but hand you solutions.
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Actionable guides that respect your reality as a nurse, healthcare worker, or night-shift professional.
Preorder Kindle Now - Available in Paperback & eBook Everywhere Books are sold 12/10/2025
Genre: Non-Fiction (NF)
Release: December 10th, 2025
Language: English
Length: 395 Pages
Format: Paperback / EPUB
The Paper Boy & The Winter War
Thirty-Eight Stories of Flash Fiction
“These stories move like smoke through a half-lit room—boys turned men too soon, families split by silence, love and violence braided tight.
The Paper Boy & The Winter War is a book of bruised hearts and broken promises, written in a voice that will follow you long after you set it down.”
Above him, one of my mother’s spider plants dangled. A runner stretched toward him, patient, green, slow as breath. Sometimes I imagined it stroking his shoulder. Sometimes I wanted it to wind around his throat. - Trapped Air
She rises, straddles his naked body, arms spread like wings. She lowers her mouth to his, releases the roach. It slides down his throat, its chitinous body lodging in his windpipe, wings unfurling. His breath rattles, then stops. Minutes later, the insect returns. She slips it inside herself, opening in pleasure, making a nest of her own. - The Nest
She found comfort in the routine: staff bending his limbs against contractures, laying bony prominences on pillows as if into coffins. Pinned by the unknown, she sipped coffee in the still moments, watched long-timers clutch Bibles, watched newcomers beg for miracles. Sobriety brought memories back jagged: the unhappiness of her pregnancy, the infant who screamed himself blue, the marriage gone gray. - The Uknown
Preorder Kindle Now - Available in Paperback & eBook Everywhere Books are sold 12/10/2025
Genre: Flash Fiction (FF)
Release: December 10th, 2025
Language: English
Length: 140 Pages
Format: Paperback / EPUB
Listen to an audio sample of new short fiction - Your Only Fan - In Print @Across The Margin
What Early Readers Are Saying
The Power of Story Scholarship
Stories keep us alive. Nurses know this—every chart, every shift, every silence has a pulse. Through the Power of Story Scholarship™, we back nurses who want to write, who want to turn long nights into sentences that matter.
We proudly support Carolina Writing Workshops—not affiliated, just fans—because great craft lifts every storyteller.
The workshops happen in North Carolina, a state wired for words—a hotbed for writers, a place where mountains, coast, and red clay gave rise to voices that cut deep. Now it’s where nurses can claim their place at the table, shaping stories that heal as much as they reveal.
To fuel this vision, 5% of all sales from The Shift Worker’s Paradox are dedicated to funding this scholarship. Each purchase doesn’t just support a book—it invests in the next nurse-writer, in the healing power of story, and in the future of narrative medicine.
Each year, the Power of Story Scholarship™ sponsors one aspiring nurse-writer’s paid attendance at a Carolina Writing Workshop.
These are two special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshops:
Friday, March 13, 2026, in Charlotte at the Charlotte Marriott SouthPark
Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Raleigh at The McKimmon Conference Center
Please submit your inquiry below to request additional details.
Freelance
I am a registered nurse, educator, and medical writer with more than three decades of experience in healthcare and nursing education. I specialize in developing evidence-based content that bridges clinical expertise with clear, accessible communication.
I am currently available for select freelance projects in:
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Continuing Education (CEU) Course Development
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Nursing & Healthcare Curriculum Design
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Medical Writing & Health Communication (articles, reports, patient education)
If your organization needs content that is accurate, engaging, and grounded in clinical practice, let’s connect.
