A review by rinnyssance
Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between by Theresa Brown

4.0

I liked the parts of the book that I didn't find so chatty. Some of the book seems rather redundant and naive, but I expect that seeing as she's a new nurse and the tales are unique to her experience and what she's learned from them. Her lesson seems to always be that nurses are a valuable part of the team and that patient care isn't something that you learn in school. Sometimes the smallest gestures matter most to patients and families. She also talks a lot about death and dying, something that I worked closely with volunteering in hospice care. You never really know when a patient is going to die. Sometimes it's sudden and sometimes the signs are there. And dealing with families are always a unique experience. Sometimes the smallest gestures let them know that you care, and it's a wonderful thing. I liked this book because she seems to be a good nurse who actually loves her job, which is quite common in nursing, while I feel like a lot of nurses, specifically younger ones, are often the ones putting their exasperation in writing, giving the job the image of being a bunch of burnouts who aren't very patient or caring.