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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Best book I have read that fully shares how a 12 hour shift goes when working in acute hospital setting. If I were creating curriculum for nursing students this book would be required reading. It is accurate and detailed. Thanks for writing it, Theresa Brown.
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
This book was found to be spot on with what I consider a normal day on my oncology unit. I was expecting there to be something crazy that was going to happen in the story and it didn't. Overall it was a good read, but not one I would read again.
Theresa recounts one of her 12 hour shifts working as a nurse in the heme/onc ward of the hospital. She shares all of the details of her duties throughout the day. These include giving new medicines, providing hope for struggling patients, and juggling the lives of 4 patients all at once.
I have such a new respect for nurses and all that they do. Her storytelling is fantastic (likely due to a previous PhD in English) and rarely drags on. She clearly expresses a love of her patients and career.
I have such a new respect for nurses and all that they do. Her storytelling is fantastic (likely due to a previous PhD in English) and rarely drags on. She clearly expresses a love of her patients and career.
Overall, a solidly good book. However, a couple of things irritated me, such as explaining what NPO means and defining what a colostomy bag is, twice, within the span of about 50 pages. These things came across as condescending to me. The heart behind the book was genuine, though, and I appreciated how devoted the author is to her profession. Her humanity is what kept me reading.
I’m a complete sucker for nursing stories, fictional or real-life. The Shift intrigued me because of its modern setting and that it’s set in a medical oncology ward in the US. Theresa Brown, the author, is also no light weight – she’s a former college professor with a PhD. She writes well, and clearly explains all aspects of a nurse’s day from the lack of break to the continual recording that needs to occur. It’s a book that is well done and gives an excellent insight into the daily life of the nurse.
Interestingly, there’s a few differences between Australian and American care that I was keen to explore. First of all, there’s the difference in payment. The NHS pays for your care in Australia, in the US it’s currently more of a user pays/private health insurance system. You have cancer in Australia and need a $10 000 drug? If the drug is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and you’re eligible (i.e. having the type of cancer for which it’s listed), no worries. You can have it, little to no payment required. I was interested to see the detail and care Theresa put into learning about her patient who was having Rituxan® (rituximab). It seemed like it wasn’t an everyday occurrence – here, we jokingly call it ‘Vitamin R’ because every second person seems to be using it and the potential uses just keep expanding! There’s definitely a lot of nursing care that goes into rituximab administration (it can cause allergic reactions and the patient needs to be monitored closely) and I liked the way Theresa went into it – it felt very caring and like she was treating the patient as an individual. There’s also blood cancers being covered by medical oncology (here they’re covered by haematologists).
To Theresa, the patients weren’t ‘the guy in bed XX’ or ‘the patient with Y cancer’ – they were real people. I think the humanitarian side of nursing – so often forgotten in this world of ‘if you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen’ and medicolegal issues – came through very strongly. I liked the way she explained terms that the average Joe might not be familiar with (it got a little repetitive for me, but I did like the simple explanations – useful for when I’m talking to patients!) but it didn’t seem like she was talking down to the reader. I also think she explained very well the continual competing tasks for a nurse’s time – call bells, telephones, patients coming in and patients going out, sometimes at the detriment of her own personal care (like eating!).
The story of just one shift explains things so well with the different types of patients – the first round of a new chemotherapy medicine (hello, frequent observations), the demanding patient and the patient who is a lot sicker than everyone first thought. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions from joy to frustration to fear. Theresa details well how she feels caught between a rock and a hard place – she simply can’t be everywhere at once and then administration decides she needs a new patient…! Although The Shift doesn’t sugar coat the realities of modern nursing, it offers a hopeful, positive tone. If you’re in hospital, you want someone like Theresa to look after you.
Thank you to Algonquin for the eARC. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Interestingly, there’s a few differences between Australian and American care that I was keen to explore. First of all, there’s the difference in payment. The NHS pays for your care in Australia, in the US it’s currently more of a user pays/private health insurance system. You have cancer in Australia and need a $10 000 drug? If the drug is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and you’re eligible (i.e. having the type of cancer for which it’s listed), no worries. You can have it, little to no payment required. I was interested to see the detail and care Theresa put into learning about her patient who was having Rituxan® (rituximab). It seemed like it wasn’t an everyday occurrence – here, we jokingly call it ‘Vitamin R’ because every second person seems to be using it and the potential uses just keep expanding! There’s definitely a lot of nursing care that goes into rituximab administration (it can cause allergic reactions and the patient needs to be monitored closely) and I liked the way Theresa went into it – it felt very caring and like she was treating the patient as an individual. There’s also blood cancers being covered by medical oncology (here they’re covered by haematologists).
To Theresa, the patients weren’t ‘the guy in bed XX’ or ‘the patient with Y cancer’ – they were real people. I think the humanitarian side of nursing – so often forgotten in this world of ‘if you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen’ and medicolegal issues – came through very strongly. I liked the way she explained terms that the average Joe might not be familiar with (it got a little repetitive for me, but I did like the simple explanations – useful for when I’m talking to patients!) but it didn’t seem like she was talking down to the reader. I also think she explained very well the continual competing tasks for a nurse’s time – call bells, telephones, patients coming in and patients going out, sometimes at the detriment of her own personal care (like eating!).
The story of just one shift explains things so well with the different types of patients – the first round of a new chemotherapy medicine (hello, frequent observations), the demanding patient and the patient who is a lot sicker than everyone first thought. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions from joy to frustration to fear. Theresa details well how she feels caught between a rock and a hard place – she simply can’t be everywhere at once and then administration decides she needs a new patient…! Although The Shift doesn’t sugar coat the realities of modern nursing, it offers a hopeful, positive tone. If you’re in hospital, you want someone like Theresa to look after you.
Thank you to Algonquin for the eARC. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I think it is very representative of what a typical shift for the average nurse is like, and would encourage anyone who is thinking about becoming a nurse to read it. However did have some issues with a few "bad nursing practices" she confessed to doing (for example don't leave meds at three bedside and trust the patient you take them on their own!) and still can't believe she let her patient Sheila kiss her on the lips! Um gross! You don't do that!
The Shift is a wonderful book that captures the day to day challenges, joys, victories, sorrows and immense capabilities of a registered nurse. The book takes the reader through one twelve hour shift on an R.N. on an oncology unit of a hospital. It's a behind the scenes look at all of the typically unseen and unnoticed work that a nurse does to keep his or her patients safe, calm, as healthy as possible, and educated about their care. There are so many more great things I want to say about this book; that I could go on and on about. Honestly, I highly recommend that anyone reads The Shift by Theresa Brown.