And Everything in Between - A New Nurse Faces Death

This book is a quick read. I imagine somewhat like a first year of nursing would go. As a new nurse myself (that doesn't have a job yet), it was interesting to see how Teresa managed her first year as a nurse. I thought she captured the difficulties and the learning curve, pretty well.

My irritation at the book was minimal. I felt kind of "dirty," in reading it, like she was capitalizing on other people's traumas and deaths for her material, soley for my reading enjoyment. I also thought that she made a lot of assumptions about why other nurses or hospital personnel were making the choices that they did, while painting herself as the only true, go the extra mile, angel at the hospital. There was a little too much of patting herself on the back. I think as new nurses (Ms. Brown and myself included), we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that other nurses are callous or mean because of the way we perceive they are treating a patient. We don't always see the bigger picture of why that nurse may be relating to that patient in a certain way, that actually may be helpful to that patient. I also know as a new nurse, the patient load IS lighter for us than for the seasoned veterans, so there IS more time for a new nurse to relate to each patient. To characterize veteran nurses as uncaring is doing a disservice to them, and is misleading for the general population.

Although this book was a good look at the first year of nursing, it wasn't as deep as one of the authors books probably will be, after she's been nursing for several more years.

To defend Ms. Brown from some of the other reviewers, she didn't say that all physicians have never gotten their own stool sample from a client, she said "virtually," and I am sure in her experience that this is true. And, often, IV therapy IS required for those suffering from severe cholera. I think she was just helping non-medical readers understand the culture of the hospital, which is DEFINITELY hierarchical, and to help them grasp the difficulties and seriousness of diarrhea (which seems very benign in the West).

The book was a very enjoyable look at a first year nurse, and reinforced my joy for the field, despite the enormous demands. I recommend it to all new nurses, to get a "feel" for the first year, and for veteran nurses, to remember what it was like for them, a long time ago. What is expected of a new nurse is pretty intense. It also gave me an, "I CAN do it too!" feeling about nursing. And for that, I am very thankful.

In Theresa Brown's "Critical Care," she recounts her mid-life move from academia to an oncology ward. Brown, who holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Chicago and taught writing at Tufts University, retrained and became a registered nurse who works with cancer patients in a Pittsburgh hospital. Brown admits, "I don't think even I fully understood my career change," but "nursing just felt right." She relishes the opportunity to reach out to patients who are frightened, confused, and vulnerable. Even when she doesn't have a comforting message to impart, she tries to convey that "whatever happens, I am here with you."

Many books have been written by doctors and nurses about why they chose their profession, what their training was like, the memorable patients whom they met, and the ways in which medicine changed them. This work covers the same territory. Brown explains that having children changed her outlook on life. She wanted to do a job that combined "technical skill and knowledge with love." So Brown gave up summers off for the "messy and stressful" work of a floor nurse specializing in medical oncology.

The author invites us along on a typical work day during which she deals with anxious men and women, some of whom are in great pain. Her patients suffer from a variety of symptoms such as incontinence, nausea, bleeding, lack of mobility, and an inability to breathe properly. Brown must endure long shifts during which tremendous demands are made on her time. She is expected to handle complicated orders, correctly dispense a variety of medications (including chemo), interact with colleagues effectively, record meticulous notes, and communicate with her patients' relatives. Inevitably, some individuals in her care do not make it. Although many would cower before such challenges, Brown finds her work exhilarating and fulfilling.

"Critical Care" will be of interest to readers who want to know about the nuts and bolts of patient care as well as "the human side of nursing." Although it is depressing to read about so many sick people who are afflicted with a variety of cancers, this straightforward and lucid work of non-fiction cannot help but increase our admiration for the men and women who selflessly dedicate their lives to soothing and healing. Theresa Brown says: "At times this caring will ask so much of you that being devoted to the job is the only thing that will enable you to keep doing it."

I got this book free from Librarything Early Reviewers.

This is an unstintingly honest memoir of the author's experience in a nursing career, mostly caring for cancer patients. She deals with both the medical side and the human side of the job, and explains the details of the treatments without drowning the reader in jargon. Her book can be quite graphic at times, particularly in chapter two when a patient's smooth, ordinary-looking back suddenly bursts open Alien-style ( I don't think I'll ever forget that!), and in the chapter "Doctors Don't Do Poop," where she talks about the scatological aspects of nursing.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in medicine, particularly someone considering a nursing career. From reading this memoir I know it's definitely not something I could ever do, and I gained a deeper respect for nurses.

A short and sweet medical memoir of a PhD English Professor turned Oncology nurse. Very well written with unique anecdotes about working with patients, family and physicians. "Safe" for laypeople to read as medical terms and procedures are explained without talking down to the reader. A must read for those considering the medical field.

This book had great potential--there were moments were it shined, but they were few. You would expect a former English prof to be a brilliant writer, right? Not necessarily, especially if they studied literature rather than creative writing; even still, it's a talent, and not everyone has it (some "writers" included!). I wish she explained more about her decision to leave academia. I myself left a career of teaching English at a university, so I was very curious about this. However, she barely mentions it. Also, disappointing cliché descriptions and adages show up throughout the book. At times the narrative fell into nursing jargon and technicalities which would be interesting if they were offset by more quality reflection. Still, the book is a fast read, and for medical junkies like me, contains items of interest.

Warning: if you or someone you love have or have had leukemia, do NOT read it: the amount of death from leukemia treatment complications will unsettle you. I definitely won't be recommending this to my friend who is a leukemia survivor of three years. She doesn't need that weight on her mind.

Countless books, movies and television dramas have been devoted to the lives of doctors, but what about those unsung heroes: nurses? Nurses provide the vast majority of patient care: from administering treatment to monitoring vitals to cleaning up accidents to counseling patients and patient advocacy. Still little is known about the professional lives of these vital medical providers.

Stepping into this void is nurse-author Theresa Brown in Critical Care who documents her first year as a R.N. in the oncology ward of a large teaching hospital. Brown, a former Tufts University English professor, is better equipped than most to share the real day to day lives of modern nurses. Brown explains her mid-life career change from the ivy walls of academia to the stressed halls of the nursing floor as a choice for a more chaotic, but meaningful professional life.

Critical Care is a beautifully written insider's account of what really happens at a present-day hospital. And the truth is somewhere between the gloried angels of Marcus Welby and the pill-popping antics of Nurse Jackie. Some nurses pull rank and wield authority like a weapon. Some nurses help their colleagues and bond over cups of coffee. Some physicians expect to be treated like demi-gods. Some physicians treat the nurses and their patients with respect. Some patients and their families harangue their caregivers. Some patients praise their nurses as "angels." Every story is, however, compelling.

As Brown confesses:

Anyone hearing a true nursing story will not want to believe it. The level of vulnerability, dependence, and fear experienced by patients in the hospital remains far outside the realm of normal, everyday life, and none of us want to imagine ourselves in that position. But people find themselves there, regardless, and they find nurses there too. Doctors don't do poop; they're concerned with other things. That's OK, but it's a difference between the two jobs. Probably they don't do Bibles either. But nurses have to get to the heart of the matter, whatever that may be.

Getting to the heart of the matter - whether it is finding a Bible for a patient or listening to a few Bruce Springsteen songs with a patient - is what Critical Care does best!

Publisher: HarperStudio (June 1, 2010), 208 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

Author Brown has a PhD in English from the University of Chicago and was teaching at Tufts University. She gave up that prestigious, tenured position, along with its long summer vacations, because she nursing more meaningful. Her book provides a look inside her new emotionally-draining career as an oncology nurse - her initial training, experiencing both expected and unexpected deaths, confrontations with obnoxious supervisors, long hours, and helping patients handle the weeks-long toll of chemotherapy.

Critical care is one of the most compelling books I've read about being a health care professional. Ms. Brown writes so well and it truly was a book I had to keep reading. Having been an English Professor helps I'm sure, but she is herself a nurse and takes us into her world completely.

Theresa Brown has made a mid-life career change, trading in her job as an English professor in order to begin anew in nursing. "I liked teaching, and at times I found in enjoyable enough, but I never felt passionately about it, for better or for worse," says Brown of her previous career, and given the serviceable but bland prose in which she tells her story one is well able to believe that English was never her passion.

Brown is extremely enthusiastic about her new job, and she is proud of what she does. Perhaps a little too proud. Her descriptions of grateful patients and her own tenacious, mongoose-like determination to do absolutely anything for them may give more modest readers a twinge of displaced embarrassment. Throughout the book she shares a number of patient stories with accompanying philosophizing. The stories of suffering oncology patients are inherently touching; her philosophy is of the Chicken Soup for the Soul variety, certainly deeply felt but nothing out of the common way.

The book, despite being written by a medical professional, is sprinkled with inaccurate statements and downright false medical information. According to Brown, cholera causes lethal dehydration that "only IV fluids can control". In reality, literally millions of lives have been saved with oral rehydration therapy as a treatment for cholera. She says, with "100 percent certainty", that no doctor in the United States ever collects feces for occult blood sampling. This actually happens quite regularly during rectal exams in family practice, and in many other circumstances. These may seem like minor quibbles but one does not like to see this type of factual error, especially as Brown heavily emphasizes the importance of patient education.

The best part of the book, by far, is the chapter entitled "A Day on the Wards". Brown really captures the reality of a day of nursing, making this chapter a great read for people considering a nursing career or for those who are interested in learning more about medicine in practice. Overall, the book is perhaps best for those that are very new to the world of medicine. Those who have read medical memoirs or been heavily involved in health care as patients or medical professionals may not find much that is novel here. However, one thing is very clear; Theresa Brown is no doubt an excellent and dedicated nurse.

My favorite books, whether novels or memoirs, are those that allow me to connect with the narrator, that speak with a distinctive voice, that offer a deeper understanding of our human condition, and that leave me feeling enriched by the encounter. This beautifully written book delivered on all fronts. I follow the author's columns on The Well (The New York Times's online health feature), so I was eager to read her in a more expanded format. I'm so glad I did. The whole book is an excellent read. The book gives us a fascinating view into Theresa Brown's introductory year as an oncology nurse, complete with unexpected professional and personal challenges that she handles with thoughtfulness and wit. I especially liked the way the chapter "A Day on the Floor" powerfully and effectively brings home the multi-layered experience of nursing, even to readers (like me) whose only medical experience has been as an occasional patient. I found myself reading many passages aloud to my husband. This is one of those books you want to share with your friends for purely selfish reasons, just so you can have the opportunity to discuss it together.

The author does an impressive job giving her account of what a new oncology nurse experiences on the job. It is difficult to see and treat the sick patients but she does so with a caring attitude. The individual cases are so sad. The book went fast. I had hard time putting it down. Very good novel.

As a soon to be nursing student, I was interested in what info this book could provide me re the day to day, on the job life of a nurse. It was helpful in that regard. Not extremely well written and at times I found the author a little whiny, but worth a quick read for the non-TV/hollywood description of the actual duties of a floor nurse.