The Night Shift

This autobiography got long and boring. I did not appreciate the language.
I've been in an ER a number of times in the past year. I appreciate the good
care received in one hospital, not so good in the other. I'r sure Dr. Goldman
does a fine job and is a caring individual.

Brian Goldman is an emergency room, ER, physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He also works part time as an author, TV personality, and creator of the CBC program White Coat, Black Art. He is also author of The Secret Language of Doctors which dissects medical argot. As an author he is engaging, frank and self-deprecating. In this book he demythologizes the ER waiting room and the nightly drama that plays out beyond its doors. Although he discusses cases that arrive though his doors they are mainly a pretext for discussing medical issues and ethics.

Anyone visiting an ER is probably frightened & in pain & the last thing on your mind is an inept or sleep-deprived doctor who is not up to the task of making you better.

Dr. Goldman has written a medical text that is easy to read by any non-medical person. Told in a conversational style he imparts some of his experiences as an ER night shift doctor in a Toronto hospital - he explores the inner workings of a big city ER that patients & outsiders never see. He does so with a touch of humour & a show of compassion which is admirable. Explaining what goes on behind the scenes may not make you feel any better, but at least you may have a better understanding of the enormity of what the doctors & nurses are faced with on a regular basis.

I am grateful to Dr. Goldman for confirming my belief that there are doctors who suffer from a "God-complex". Doctors who should not be doctors in my view. `First do no harm' is not a concept they grasp.

My logical mind says that doctors are human & thereby are prone to make mistakes, but that's the last thing I want to think about when I'm sick. This book is a revelation about how many mistakes can/do occur & why some of these mistakes happen. It puts into black & white, a very frightening fact right from `the horse's mouth' so to speak.

This book relates to an Ontario hospital & makes clear that that system is in desperate need of repair. Not an uncommon view for some time now which has, to date, only attracted lip-service from those charged with making the system better. However, it would not be outlandish to suppose that similar circumstances exist elsewhere.

Going to an ER is really much like buying a Lottery ticket. If you are lucky you get a doctor like Dr. Goldman & hopefully at a point before he/she is feeling the effects of sleep-depravation. If not, who knows? It is, by the way, not the fault of the doctor that he/she is sleep-deprived; it is 99% the fault of the system. Reading this book may give you some insight into what to expect if you should ever find yourself in an ER at midnight.

Story Description:

HarperCollins|September 3, 2010|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-1-55468-391-8

Dr. Brian Goldman is both an emergency room physician at Mount Sinai and a prominent medical journalist. Never one to shy away from controversy, Goldman specializes in kicking open the doors to the medical establishment revealing what really goes on behind the scenes - and in the minds of doctors and nurses.

In The Night Shift, Goldman shares his experiences in the witching hours at Mount Sinai Hospital in downtown Toronto. We meet the kinds of patients who walk into an ER after midnight: late night revellers injured on their way home after last call, teens assaulted in the streets by other teens and a woman who punches another woman out of jealousy over a man. But Goldman also reveals the emotional, heartbreaking side of everyday ER visits: adult children forced to make life and death decisions about critically ill parents, victims of sexual assault, and mentally ill and homeless patients looking for understanding and a quick fix in the twenty-four hour waiting room. Written with Goldman's trademark honesty and with surprising humour, The Night Shift is also a frank look at many issues facing the medical profession today, and offers a highly compelling inside view into an often shrouded world.

My Review:

This was an absolutely phenomenal book! Dr. Goldman blows the lid off what really goes on inside the Emergency Room for those inquiring minds who want to know. Goldman is frank, honest and doesn't mince words about both the good and bad sides of his profession.

The decisions, quick thinking and the speed at which these doctors and nurses often have to work is staggering. When you're in the position of trying to save someone's life you don't have time to stand around and take a lot of time to think of your best options. At times, you just have to go with the flow so to speak.

I feel terribly sorry for the mentally ill who are often misunderstood and don't always get a sympathetic or understanding ear at the emergency department and Goldman admits that. Some just don't have the patience to administer to the needs and requirements of these people in society which is sad. It must be very frustrating for the patient.

The Night Shift was a riveting read and kept me glued from the first page to the last page and quite frankly, I didn't want it to end. I wanted more stories. I'll definitely be recommending this to friends and family.

I really enjoy medical nonfiction and Dr. Goldman's account of the workings of a Canadian ER did not disappoint. The cases are interesting and varied, as is to be expected in an emergency setting, and some interesting points about the inner workings of a hospital are discussed. There aren't many books in this genre that are written from a Canadian perspective; hopefully this book will encourage other Canadian doctors to produce accounts of their specialties.