Nancy A. (Chocoholic) reviewed Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between on + 291 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
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.
Eva Marie L. (babyjulie) -
Helpful Score: 1
I'd recommend this for anyone looking to get a glimpse into what it takes to be a R.N., especially in an oncology unit. This was interesting for me because I have an on-line friend going through chemo right now and never having had any personal experience with this treatment I had no idea really what is happening to her. There is so much I don't know still but I know more now than before.
There's a nice amount of stories about Brown's patients and to me that's always a plus. Brown seems to be an honest author also which always goes a long way. She comes across as someone you'd want for your own nurse if you had the bad luck to have to be in the hospital in the first place.
I don't know if it's just me but she tended to make everything seem real easy. She stressed things she had no time for, things needed to be rushed, etc. but at the end of the day it didn't seem to be a full days work by nurse to me. I know and have seen R.N.'s at work and I think their days are far more hectic than what comes across here.
The medical terminology is all explained.
Two things I didn't like: one was that a few times Brown tried to look too far into things. One man has to wear an adult diaper because of incontinance and when he makes a joke about knowing how a baby feels she "understands" that he was feeling "infantilized" and that he "acted out the feeling of infantilication into a joke". How about he wanted to joke for a second? This is a real pet peeve of mine so luckily it didn't happen more than a few times here or I'd have maybe not finished. Why everone has to find some sort of hidden meaning in everything these days is beyond me.
"It's interesting, though, that even doctors can be squeamish about shit."
Is that supposed to be quirky? It's just bothersome IMO.
The second thing was the ending of most of the chapters. The rest of the chapters were fine but the endings, most of them, had to be "enlightening" or "heartwarming". And it felt fake.
Talking about finding a Bible for a patient, which really isn't up to a R.N. but which Brown took very seriously, she concludes by saying that doctors probably don't do Bibles (meaning taking the time to find one for a patient) and that's okay.
"But nurses have to get to the heart of the matter, whatever that may be."
That's not even a good example really, it's one I pulled out fast. It's gets a little more silly than that.
Brown seems honest, like I said, she definitely does not talk down to her readers, and seems to be an all around likable person.
I do have to mention this. The author photo on the back page, with the glasses, is nice.
The photo on the inside back cover is not. Her lower mascara is smudged all over, it looks like she was crying and only cleaned up one eye and she looks like there's a foal smell to the air there. It's a close-up of her, with a blurry forest behind her, and she's looking up and off. Why? Is there something stinky out there that only she can see? Is that why she was crying?
If that were me I'd personally go around the world and make every person give me their copy of the book.
There's a nice amount of stories about Brown's patients and to me that's always a plus. Brown seems to be an honest author also which always goes a long way. She comes across as someone you'd want for your own nurse if you had the bad luck to have to be in the hospital in the first place.
I don't know if it's just me but she tended to make everything seem real easy. She stressed things she had no time for, things needed to be rushed, etc. but at the end of the day it didn't seem to be a full days work by nurse to me. I know and have seen R.N.'s at work and I think their days are far more hectic than what comes across here.
The medical terminology is all explained.
Two things I didn't like: one was that a few times Brown tried to look too far into things. One man has to wear an adult diaper because of incontinance and when he makes a joke about knowing how a baby feels she "understands" that he was feeling "infantilized" and that he "acted out the feeling of infantilication into a joke". How about he wanted to joke for a second? This is a real pet peeve of mine so luckily it didn't happen more than a few times here or I'd have maybe not finished. Why everone has to find some sort of hidden meaning in everything these days is beyond me.
"It's interesting, though, that even doctors can be squeamish about shit."
Is that supposed to be quirky? It's just bothersome IMO.
The second thing was the ending of most of the chapters. The rest of the chapters were fine but the endings, most of them, had to be "enlightening" or "heartwarming". And it felt fake.
Talking about finding a Bible for a patient, which really isn't up to a R.N. but which Brown took very seriously, she concludes by saying that doctors probably don't do Bibles (meaning taking the time to find one for a patient) and that's okay.
"But nurses have to get to the heart of the matter, whatever that may be."
That's not even a good example really, it's one I pulled out fast. It's gets a little more silly than that.
Brown seems honest, like I said, she definitely does not talk down to her readers, and seems to be an all around likable person.
I do have to mention this. The author photo on the back page, with the glasses, is nice.
The photo on the inside back cover is not. Her lower mascara is smudged all over, it looks like she was crying and only cleaned up one eye and she looks like there's a foal smell to the air there. It's a close-up of her, with a blurry forest behind her, and she's looking up and off. Why? Is there something stinky out there that only she can see? Is that why she was crying?
If that were me I'd personally go around the world and make every person give me their copy of the book.
