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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Whilst so grateful to all the Keyworkers who continued providing services throughout the pandemic I don't think this quite works as a book. There are too many repetitions and worthy remarks. That, I think is the fault of the editors rather than the author as this is a collection of emails.
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
A bit repetitive at times but such a tender and real insight into a nurse's life during Covid. I especially appreciated how many different parts of live Allen touched upon, like how old people or young teenagers were struggling in their own ways during Covid. As someone who spends way too much time in hospitals or doctor's offices, she also made me feel much more comfortable with the moments there, that are embarrassing for me but just normal for the nurses. They really hold the whole medical world together. I feel like this is a book that I could show to my kids in the future to make them understand the weird world we lived in during the height of the pandemic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content
Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy
Minor: Death of parent
I love medical accounts and I have read several books which focus on the medical experience of Covid.
Life, Death and Biscuits is the account of an intensive care nurse based on diaries and email updates she wrote throughout the Pandemic.
This is a sobering account - it has to be. The author provides an incredible narrative of the expert work of the nurses and an intuitive and empathetic insight into the patients she treated. At one point she had put out a request for biscuits to help sustain stamina and spirits and the biscuits come, and the cake came and kept on coming…
There are several things which set this account apart - firstly I found the author included a lot of technical detail - for example about the ventilators - which really added to my understanding. The technical detail was expertly explained so that anyone could understand the function of the machinery or the aspects of the care. I also loved the thread about biscuits and cakes which worked through the story highlighting the humanity of the community outside the hospital which literally fed the nurses’ spirits, and contrasted to the lack of supplies and support from government.
Throughout this is an incredible testament to care, empathy and compassion and to a unique time in social and medical history which put the medical profession and humanity to the test as never before. What shines out is the absolutely amazing staff of the NHS.
I cannot give this less than 5 stars for what it offers as a depiction of a particular time and for the writing of such an account when the author was busy being a parent and an Intensive Care Nurse.
With thanks to Netgalley and for a digital copy of this b
Life, Death and Biscuits is the account of an intensive care nurse based on diaries and email updates she wrote throughout the Pandemic.
This is a sobering account - it has to be. The author provides an incredible narrative of the expert work of the nurses and an intuitive and empathetic insight into the patients she treated. At one point she had put out a request for biscuits to help sustain stamina and spirits and the biscuits come, and the cake came and kept on coming…
There are several things which set this account apart - firstly I found the author included a lot of technical detail - for example about the ventilators - which really added to my understanding. The technical detail was expertly explained so that anyone could understand the function of the machinery or the aspects of the care. I also loved the thread about biscuits and cakes which worked through the story highlighting the humanity of the community outside the hospital which literally fed the nurses’ spirits, and contrasted to the lack of supplies and support from government.
Throughout this is an incredible testament to care, empathy and compassion and to a unique time in social and medical history which put the medical profession and humanity to the test as never before. What shines out is the absolutely amazing staff of the NHS.
I cannot give this less than 5 stars for what it offers as a depiction of a particular time and for the writing of such an account when the author was busy being a parent and an Intensive Care Nurse.
With thanks to Netgalley and for a digital copy of this b
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
An interesting look at St George's hospital during the first year or so of the pandemic through emails written at the time. Rather 'live laugh love' at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death
Found this to become quite repetitive at times, which is to be expected, as the book is essentially a collection of emails that the author sent out to inform people about what was happening within her hospital, and her team of nurses, during the course of the pandemic. Like others have mentioned before me, it could of possibly done with some editing.
It is an interesting and important insight into how some of the most essential workers were treated, and what they went through, and the effects other situations, like brexit, and cost cuts, are having on our NHS and nursing staff.
Forever grateful to the nurses, doctors, care workers, and general hospital and care home staff who had to put themselves on the front line everyday during a very unpredictable, and unnerving, time.
It is an interesting and important insight into how some of the most essential workers were treated, and what they went through, and the effects other situations, like brexit, and cost cuts, are having on our NHS and nursing staff.
Forever grateful to the nurses, doctors, care workers, and general hospital and care home staff who had to put themselves on the front line everyday during a very unpredictable, and unnerving, time.
emotional
informative
slow-paced
This book was an interesting look at the life of a critical care nurse during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming in places and it was interesting to learn what exactly a critical care nurse is tasked with daily.
However, this has not been my favourite medical memoir, having read Adam Kay’s This Is Going To Hurt just before starting this book. While I liked that the emails that Anthea originally sent out were included, they became very repetitive and I started to become a little bit bored of reading about the same things. I understood that when they were sent out, they were a week or so apart from each other so it may have been necessary for the repetition, but I just don’t think that it worked well within a book.
I also started to get annoyed at the way that Anthea referred to young doctors and belittled them (they were so young they still had acne or a doctor fainted within 2 hours of starting work on the Covid ICU) and how she repeatedly told the reader that the nurses that were sent to help weren’t trained enough and weren’t giving the best care to their patients. It was like she forgot that these nurses had been pulled out of their specialties and thrown into a place where they had to learn new skills, I would bet that Anthea couldn’t work in the areas that these nurses came from to the same standard as them either.
I also got frustrated and felt that she was trying to make us feel sorry for the nurses who were fed three times a day during the start of the pandemic and were forever being gifted snacks, gift bags and hampers and how later on during the second wave she said that they did their job without the discounts, without the free coffee and without a pay rise. While these nurses really did go through hell and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, the hospital nurses received a lot more than other nurses (especially community nurses), support workers and care home staff who worked tirelessly through the pandemic caring for those who weren’t in the hospitals. The only difference being that they didn’t have the luxury that Anthea and her team had of the food and endless “PPE hugs” whilst still working in the strangest times. Another sentence that stuck out to me was “only nurses talk of food while the aroma of faeces fills the air”, which is not true at all. Anyone who works within the health and social care sector and deals with the personal care of people have the same sense of humour and the same outlooks as many nurses but often get forgotten about.
While this book was interesting to begin, I found from about 40% through I was starting to get very annoyed by the repetition and the self-congratulatory writing that I wasn’t sure if I could finish the book. I think the book could have been much shorter than it was, but I also think that anyone who worked from home or was furloughed during the pandemic should read this to understand how hard it was to work on the front lines while most were enjoying the glorious weather and all of the lockdown activities that went on.
However, this has not been my favourite medical memoir, having read Adam Kay’s This Is Going To Hurt just before starting this book. While I liked that the emails that Anthea originally sent out were included, they became very repetitive and I started to become a little bit bored of reading about the same things. I understood that when they were sent out, they were a week or so apart from each other so it may have been necessary for the repetition, but I just don’t think that it worked well within a book.
I also started to get annoyed at the way that Anthea referred to young doctors and belittled them (they were so young they still had acne or a doctor fainted within 2 hours of starting work on the Covid ICU) and how she repeatedly told the reader that the nurses that were sent to help weren’t trained enough and weren’t giving the best care to their patients. It was like she forgot that these nurses had been pulled out of their specialties and thrown into a place where they had to learn new skills, I would bet that Anthea couldn’t work in the areas that these nurses came from to the same standard as them either.
I also got frustrated and felt that she was trying to make us feel sorry for the nurses who were fed three times a day during the start of the pandemic and were forever being gifted snacks, gift bags and hampers and how later on during the second wave she said that they did their job without the discounts, without the free coffee and without a pay rise. While these nurses really did go through hell and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, the hospital nurses received a lot more than other nurses (especially community nurses), support workers and care home staff who worked tirelessly through the pandemic caring for those who weren’t in the hospitals. The only difference being that they didn’t have the luxury that Anthea and her team had of the food and endless “PPE hugs” whilst still working in the strangest times. Another sentence that stuck out to me was “only nurses talk of food while the aroma of faeces fills the air”, which is not true at all. Anyone who works within the health and social care sector and deals with the personal care of people have the same sense of humour and the same outlooks as many nurses but often get forgotten about.
While this book was interesting to begin, I found from about 40% through I was starting to get very annoyed by the repetition and the self-congratulatory writing that I wasn’t sure if I could finish the book. I think the book could have been much shorter than it was, but I also think that anyone who worked from home or was furloughed during the pandemic should read this to understand how hard it was to work on the front lines while most were enjoying the glorious weather and all of the lockdown activities that went on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma