Abstract: On September 3, 2010, the night nurses at Christchurch Hospital in New Zealand went to work unaware of the personal and professional challenges that were about to unfold in the following hours. This paper, derived from the results of a phenomenological research project, explores the issues that helped and hindered nurses during that night shift and in the three days following the 7.1 earthquake, which struck in the early morning of September 4, around 20km from the hospital. This narrative article allows the world to hear the voices of Christchurch nurses who were providing care in the first 24 hours and during the three days following that major seismic event.