When The Nurse Becomes A Patient

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Shift comes a frank look at navigating the world of healthcare as a cancer nurse becomes a patient and experiences the system from the other side.​ Despite her training and years of experience as an oncology and hospice nurse, Brown finds it difficult to navigate the medical maze from the other side of the bed. Why is she so often left in the dark about procedures and treatments? Why is she expected to research her own best treatment options? Why is there so much red tape? At times she’s mad at herself for not speaking up and asking for what she needs but knows that being a “difficult” patient could mean she gets worse care. Of the almost four million women in this country living with breast cancer, many have had, like Brown, a treatable form of the disease. Both unnerving and extremely relatable, her experience shows us how our for-profit health care industry “cures” us but at the same time leaves so many of us feeling alienated and uncared for. As she did so brilliantly in her New York Times bestseller, The Shift, Brown relays the unforgettable details of her daily life—the needles, the chemo drugs, the rubber gloves, the bureaucratic frustrations—but this time from her new perch as a patient, looking back at some of her own cases and considering what she didn’t know then about the warping effects of fear and the healing virtues of compassion. “People failed me when I was a patient and I failed patients when working as a nurse. I see that now,” she writes. Healing is must-read for all of us who have tried to find healing through our health-care system.

This collection of true narratives reflects the dynamism and diversity of nurses, who provide the first vital line of patient care. Here, nurses remember their first "sticks," first births, and first deaths, and reflect on what gets them though long, demanding shifts, and keeps them in the profession. The stories reveal many voices from nurses at different stages of their careers: One nurse-in-training longs to be trusted with more "important" procedures, while another questions her ability to care for nursing home residents. An efficient young emergency room nurse finds his life and career irrevocably changed by a car accident. A nurse practitioner wonders whether she has violated professional boundaries in her care for a homeless man with AIDS, and a home care case manager is the sole attendee at a funeral for one of her patients. What connects these stories is the passion and strength of the writers, who struggle against burnout and bureaucracy to serve their patients with skill, empathy, and strength.

“Among all the recent books on medicine, Critical Care stands alone.“ — Pauline Chen, author of Final Exam “A must read for anyone who wants to understand healthcare. Extraordinary.” — Elizabeth Cohen, MPH, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Critical Care is the powerful and absorbing memoir of Theresa Brown—a regular contributor to the New York Times blog “Well”—about her experiences during the first year on the job as an oncology nurse; in the process, Brown sheds brilliant light on issues of mortality and meaning in our lives.

Paintings and reflections that share a nurse's personal experience of illness In the summer of 2013, Cortney Davis, a nurse practitioner and author who often writes about her interactions with patients, underwent routine one-day surgery. A surgical mishap led to a series of life-altering and life-threatening complications, resulting in two prolonged hospital stays and a lengthy recovery. During twenty-six days in the hospital, Davis experienced how suddenly a caregiver can become a care receiver and what it's like to be "on the other side of the sickbed." As a nurse, she was accustomed to suffering and to the empathy such witnessing can evoke, but as a patient she learned new and transforming lessons in pain, fear, loneliness, abandonment, and dependency; in the fragility of health and life; in the necessity of family support; and, ultimately, in the importance of gratitude. Once at home, Davis wanted to respond to her illness creatively through her writing, but the details seemed too intense, too raw for words. As her recovery progressed, she found release in painting, discovering an immediate connection between heart and hand, between memory and canvas. In a series of twelve paintings, she reenvisioned episodes of her illness, moments that remained and replayed in her consciousness, ultimately providing an education in health care more resonant and more authentic than what she had found in nursing textbooks. Before, serving as a nurse in intensive care, oncology, and women's health, Davis believed that she understood what hospitalized patients might be experiencing and how they might be coping. Her own illness taught her how little she truly knew and how important it is that all caregivers--professionals and family members alike--become aware of the physical and the inner emotional needs of their seriously ill patients. After the twelve paintings were completed, Davis wrote brief commentaries for each image. She used her remembrances to clarify and expand on her artwork, thereby making her personal story accessible to others. While every patient's journey and every caregiver's challenges are unique, these intimate and revealing paintings and reflections offer a glimpse into the universal aspects of illness and recovery.

Practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day on a busy teaching hospital’s cancer ward. In the span of twelve hours, lives can be lost, life-altering treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. Unfolding in real time--under the watchful eyes of this dedicated professional and insightful chronicler of events--The Shift gives an unprecedented view into the individual struggles as well as the larger truths about medicine in this country. By shift’s end, we have witnessed something profound about hope and humanity.

A revealing guide to a nursing career written by esteemed reporter Sonny Kleinfield and based on the real-life experiences of the celebrated emergency room nurses of New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital—required reading for anyone considering a path to this profession. Becoming a Nurse takes you behind the scenes to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a nurse. Acclaimed former New York Times reporter Sonny Kleinfield shadows veteran nurse Hadassah Lampert of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York to show how this in-demand job becomes a reality. Known for her mastery of technical skills and her heartfelt compassion for her patients, Lampert embodies the best of nursing. Go inside a hectic ER as veteran nurses work around the clock to treat incoming patients in a dazzling display of focus, skill, and bravery. Learn about their paths to the top of their field, from nursing school and clinical rotations to on-the-job realities like dealing with trauma and death. Gain insight about how this high-stakes job is actually practiced at the highest levels. As a nurse, expect the unexpected.

Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine, Ninth Edition, offers a balanced view of the most current knowledge of cancer science and clinical oncology practice. This all-new edition is the consummate reference source for medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, internists, surgical oncologists, and others who treat cancer patients. A translational perspective throughout, integrating cancer biology with cancer management providing an in depth understanding of the disease An emphasis on multidisciplinary, research-driven patient care to improve outcomes and optimal use of all appropriate therapies Cutting-edge coverage of personalized cancer care, including molecular diagnostics and therapeutics Concise, readable, clinically relevant text with algorithms, guidelines and insight into the use of both conventional and novel drugs Includes free access to the Wiley Digital Edition providing search across the book, the full reference list with web links, illustrations and photographs, and post-publication updates

Offering life- and career-changing moments in nurses’ lives, the 80 true stories in Reflections on Nursing reveal nursing at its most demanding and fulfilling. Written mainly by nurses offering care at home, hospital, or hospice, these first-person stories convey the professional burdens, personal growth, and inner realizations found in the course of patient care. Whether you are a new or experienced practitioner, or just fascinated by nursing care in action, these inspiring true stories show nursing as both professional and life experience, and often, as an inspired journey. Experience the challenges and hard-earned wisdom of these real-life nursing moments: · Written by or about nurses of all experience levels and in numerous care settings, including stories about memorable nurses written by patients, family members, and doctors · Dive into these engrossing short stories, and go on a journey with: the nurse who inspires dignity and strength in a young soldier who is losing his wife the young nurse who stands up to a bullying preceptor the nurse who realizes her best friend, a fellow nurse, is stealing drugs from their unit the nurse struggling to give adequate care to seven patients at once on an understaffed unit the retired doctor who recalls the nurse who saved him, as a young intern, from mishandling a crucial situation with a dying patient the nurse who takes on an angry patient with a challenging case, to offer special help and encouragement nurses who become a patient The nurse/administrator who pushes hard for administrative decisions that will support nurses and improve patient care the inspiring patients who help nurses remember why they became a nurse