Missing Pieces is a novel about mental health nursing and the difficulties faced by a challenging profession, as Ron seeks an understanding of his personal and professional world. The novel challenges traditional stereotypes, offering a greater range of character depictions. The critical discussion asks why mental health nursing is represented in fiction like it is. By first contextualising the argument within the sphere of fictional representations of other health professions, it then examines the stereotypes of mental health nursing in fiction, and argues that, while literary shortfalls are in part supported by clinical evidence, existing novels fail to accurately depict the experience of the profession. By reference to the nursing theory of Peplau and others, we not only see the failures of fiction writers, but realise that mental health nursing must assume some culpability, by failing to disseminate its identity with sufficient clarity. Looking at the work of Freya Barrington and Monica Starkman in other health disciplines, it asks how fictionalised accounts of mental health practitioner/writers can integrate into health education programmes, and looks at the professional benefits of writing fiction including continuing professional development. Finally, it points to potential areas for further investigation.