The Arduous Touch

Holding a dead baby. Standing up to a supervisor. Washing a bedridden patient's hair. Talking past and through one another in a case conference. Smoothing a sheet over a patient's disintegrating body. Firing a longtime friend and co-worker. Literature can be a rich source of guidance to help with contemporary ethical dilemmas facing health care professionals and patients. Poems and stories can help to identify moral problems, promote empathy, and tolerate ambiguity in health and illness. The depth and detail within stories and poems allow readers to experience the contradictory feelings, complex relationships, and situational messiness that characterize ethical quandaries in actual practice. These works by women in health care contribute to our understanding by introducing characters who struggle with illness and aging or who try to make sense of their own feelings in the face of pain and mortality. Who better to capture the essence of this complexity than people working directly within it?

When compromised by Sir Thomas Watson in her cabin enroute to India, Justina Mansell agrees to become engaged to him much to the dismay of Lord Castleton.

It is painfully difficult to watch a loved one decline as dementia ravages their mind, destroying memories, rational thinking, and judgment. In her touching memoir, I Will Never Forget, Elaine Pereira shares the heartbreaking and humorous story of her mother’s incredible journey through dementia. Pereira begins with entertaining glimpses into her own childhood and feisty teenage years, demonstrating her mother’s strength of character. Years later, as Betty Ward started to exhibit bizarre behaviors and paranoia, Pereira was mystified by her mom’s amazing ability to mask the truth. Not until a revealing incident over an innocuous drapery rod did Pereira recognize the extent of her mother’s Alzheimer’s. As their roles shifted and a new paradigm emerged, Pereira transformed into a caregiver blindly navigating dementia’s unpredictable haze. But before Betty’s passing, she orchestrated a stunning rally to control her own destiny via a masterful, Houdini-like escape. I Will Never Forget is a powerful heartwarming story that helps others know that they are not alone in their journey. “Poignant, shocking, and honest … far more than just words on paper. If you or someone you know is living through the hell of dementia, you need this book!” —Ionia Martin, developer of Readful Things Reviews and Alzheimer’s caregiver

The wild onion is an everyday plant, but rewardingly flavorsome and beautiful when closely examined - hence the choice of 'Wild Onions' as the title of the literary journal for and by Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine students, in which nurse and poet Judy Schaefer's work was first published in 1984. In the years since, Schaefer has become a key figure both as a nurse-poet in her own right, and in showcasing poetry and creative writing by other nurses, providing insights into the experience of delivering healthcare in a system burdened by cost and regulation. Here she selects a quarter of a century of her own poetry first published in 'Wild Onions', a collection which will be essential reading for nurses, students and researchers in the medical humanities, and all readers with an interest in poetry or healthcare.

The storyteller has a fascinating place in our world. Storyteller Sidney Homan tells tales of growing up in Philadelphia in the 1940s and 50saâ'¬accounts of Bruzzy the Bully; of John Crapp, the television salesman; of Leslie Doober and his rotten banana; of drunken Uncle Eddie, and of the Queen of the mushrooms. Sometimes comic, sometimes bittersweet, A Fish in the Moonlight illuminates the growth of both storyteller and listener.

First Place in Creative Works from the American Journal of Nursing's Book of the Year Awards Second Place in Professional Issues from the American Journal of Nursing's Book of the Year Awards The poems in An Otherwise Healthy Woman delve into the complexity of modern health care, illness, and healing, offering an alternative narrative to heroics and miracles. Drawing on Amy Haddad's firsthand experiences as a nurse and patient, the poems in this collection teach us to take a moment to stop and acknowledge the longing for compassion in each of us, what ought to be the immediate human response to suffering. The poet isn't afraid to explore her own fears and failures or to find joy and humor in the many roles women play. An Otherwise Healthy Woman presents the intimate experiences of a nurse, the vulnerable perspective of a patient, and the lessons of caring for family.

In this newly revised, expanded and updated edition, the authors have provided a definitive resource about and for women physicians. From statistical data regarding practicing women physicians in the U.S. and abroad, minorities and gay/lesbian physicians, to practical advice on coping with stress, WOMEN IN MEDICINE: CAREER AND LIFE MANAGEMENT, 3rd Edition, is an exceedingly useful and insightful volume for understanding and managing the issues faced by women physicians in both their professional and personal lives.