The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives

Theresa Brown

ISBN 10: 150472836X ISBN 13: 9781504728362

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc., 2016

Synopsis

[Read by Tavia Gilbert]

In a book as eye-opening as it is riveting, practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day in a hospital's cancer ward. In the span of twelve hours, lives can be lost, life-altering medical treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. In Brown's skilled hands -- as both a dedicated nurse and an insightful chronicler of events -- we are given an unprecedented view into the individual struggles as well as the larger truths about medicine in this country. By shift's end, we have witnessed something profound about hope, healing, and humanity.

Every day, Theresa Brown holds patients' lives in her hands. On this day there are four: Mr. Hampton, a patient with lymphoma to whom Brown is charged with administering a powerful drug that could cure him -- or kill him; Sheila, who may have been dangerously misdiagnosed; Candace, a returning patient who arrives (perhaps advisedly) with her own disinfectant wipes, cleansing rituals, and demands; and Dorothy, who after six weeks in the hospital may finally go home. Prioritizing and ministering to their needs takes the kind of skill, sensitivity, and, yes, humor that enable a nurse to be a patient's most ardent advocate in a medical system marked by heartbreaking dysfunction as well as miraculous success.

About this title

From the Back Cover

“A wonderfully told story of the life-and-death reality of a hospital . . .

. . . Theresa Brown helps us understand the dramas and the dangers as the beautifully evocative stories of nurses and doctors, patients and family members, overlap and entwine during a twelve-hour shift.”
—Perri Klass, MD, author of Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor

Practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day on a busy teaching hospital’s cancer ward. In the span of twelve hours, lives can be lost, life-altering treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. Unfolding in real time--under the watchful eyes of this dedicated professional and insightful chronicler of events--The Shift gives an unprecedented view into the individual struggles as well as the larger truths about medicine in this country. By shift’s end, we have witnessed something profound about hope and humanity.

“Meticulous, absorbing . . . Stands out for its honesty, clarity, and heart. [Brown] juggles the fears, hopes, and realities of a twelve-hour shift in a typical urban hospital with remarkable insight and unflagging care.
Her memoir is a must-read.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

“Riveting . . . Should be required reading for all incoming medical  and nursing students--or anyone who is a patient or visitor in a hospital.”  —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“What makes Brown’s story shine are the touching and sometimes bizarre moments that make real life in a hospital stranger than fiction.” —The Boston Globe

“An empathetic and absorbing narrative as riveting as a TV drama.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Captures perfectly [a nurse’s] central role in any patient’s life.” —Susan Love, MD, author of Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book

About the Author

Theresa Brown,RN, works as a clinical nurse. Her regular column appears on the New York Times opinion pages as well as on the Times Opinionator blog. She has also been a contributor to the popular Well section of that paper and writes for CNN.com and other national media. Brown received her BSN from the University of Pittsburgh and, during what she calls her past life, a PhD in English from the University of Chicago. Before becoming a nurse, she taught English at Tufts University. Today her focus is medical oncology and end-of-life issues. She lectures nationally, is a board member of the Center for Health, Media, and Policy at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing at the City University of New York's Hunter College. Brown was a panelist for TEDMED's Great Challenges of Health and Medicine initiative and is also involved in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Flip the Clinic initiative and an advisory board member for Scrubs magazine. She lives with her husband and three children in Pennsylvania.

Edition details

• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 150472836X
• ISBN 13: 9781504728362
• Binding: MP3 CD
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 8