The biography section is filled with books written about doctors and I enjoy their slant on the world of medical writing. I often feel though that their stories are a little disjointed, for although they talk about the care of their patients, I always wonder at how much they get involved when they only see them for minutes each day. In this book we meet Christie Watson, a nurse with over 20 years experience in medicine working in both mental health and pediatric Intensive Care. It is her stories that I have found more compelling - the sitting by bedsides, singing to patients, cleaning them, reassuring them, laughing and crying with them and their families that makes this a great book to read.
Nurses in our country are about to strike to get better pay after years of being fobbed off by managerial committees who continue to keep them understaffed and underpaid. They should all work a week in the wards and pick up this book and read it before they next negotiate. 4/5
2 comments:
Much of the time, doctor's are little better than correspondents; they may as well phone in their diagnoses. That's not always the doctors' fault. We need more doctors and nurses, and better pay for the latter.
That would be an interesting take on their outlook. They probably wouldn’t last a day. When my youngest went to kindergarten I went two mornings a week as a volunteer. It was in a lung ward where most had cancer and there was no cure then. Often older women had no visitors and they enjoyed a chat and a visit. However I only did it for a year as it was always a shock to get fond of someone then find their bed stripped when I arrived. I don’t know how nurses cope with the emotional part of the care. The physical care would be even harder. I hope they get the pay rise they deserve.
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