Anyone who has been to a big hospital for any reason will be familiar with the busy scene. Doctors, nurses, helpers, and administrative staff all running around with a strong purpose. It may, at times, also appear equally chaotic and seem like this bustling place is out of sync.
A hospital is a world of its own. Insulated from what is happening outside, this place has rules and codes of its own. And one of the important participants in keeping this alien world together are the nurses. They care for the patients 24 x 7 and are often the first responders. This responsibility makes their role that much more important for both the patients and the hospital. A slight misjudgement can mean the difference between life and death.
So how does it feel to be a nurse in a big hospital? In The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives, Theresa Brown walks you through the hours of her shift minute by minute. All that we see as routine and happens like clockwork, needs a lot of attention and involves continuous decision making.
Theresa Brown is a practicing nurse and a New York Times contributor. Her riveting, descriptive narrative of the number of considerations and decisions that go behind every action that a nurse takes, gives a glimpse into the complexity of a nursing job.
The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives
Author: Theresa Brown Pages: 272 Publisher: Algonquin Books (September 22, 2015) ISBN: 161620320X, 978-1616203207
Although the book is full of medical terminology, the author has made every effort to explain the reader what these terms mean. For example, when she talks about how Sheila’s blood cannot coagulate, the author explains how coagulation works and how just one break in the linked processes can throw the blood thickening process off.
Or with Mr. King, when the nurses rattle off the stats for the code team – “Platelets are ten – he’s refractory” – what does it mean? Is it serious? Is it too high or too low? Well, the author will tell you what it means and why is it important.
The book, of course, is not just about medicine. It is about people: patients, doctors, interns, residents, and nurses. And it is about the Oncology ward.
It is not easy to be on your toes all day when people are depending on you to make the right decisions. It is equally or more difficult to emotionally connect with the patients and see them loose the battle. The author talks about her daily rituals, the legal considerations, the administrative requirements and more.
If you like watching medical drama on TV, this is definitely a book that you will love to read. We may go in and out of the hospital for a few days now and then, but the life at the hospital goes on. Theresa Brown captures all the hope, sorrow, tension, and triumph from a nurse’s point of you in a story like form.