Donna Yates-Adelman was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta and attended Balmoral and Crescent Heights High School. A graduate of Calgary's Holy Cross Hospital in 1962, Yates-Adelman worked for 26 years, primarily in surgical intensive care and coronary intensive care in hospitals in Calgary, Montreal and San Francisco. She was head nurse in surgical intensive care at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital before opening her own medical clinic, Doctors' Replacement Medical Clinic, which she owned and operated for 12 years.

Presently a volunteer with the Alzheimer's Group Inc. in Montreal, Yates-Adelman teaches caregivers about Alzheimer's disease. She is a nurse with Johnson & Johnson's Nurses Who Make a Difference program. Her articles have appeared in The Globe and Mail, medical journals and newsletters. Yates-Adelman is a member of the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta, Canadian Nurses Association, Canadian Writers Society, Canadian Authors Association and Quebec Writers Federation.