The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital
Alexandra Robbins
Language: English
Pages: 384
ISBN: 0761189254
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
A New York Times bestseller. “A funny, intimate, and often jaw-dropping account of life behind the scenes.”—People
Nurses is the compelling story of the year in the life of four nurses, and the drama, unsung heroism, and unique sisterhood of nursing—one of the world’s most important professions (nurses save lives every day), and one of the world’s most dangerous, filled with violence, trauma, and PTSD.
In following four nurses, Alexandra Robbins creates sympathetic characters while diving deep into their world of controlled chaos. It’s a world of hazing—“nurses eat their young.” Sex—not exactly like on TV, but surprising just the same. Drug abuse—disproportionately a problem among the best and the brightest, and a constant temptation. And bullying—by peers, by patients, by hospital bureaucrats, and especially by doctors, an epidemic described as lurking in the “shadowy, dark corners of our profession.”
The result is a page-turning, shocking look at our health-care system.
shape, and they have that sensitivity about saving lives. You feel safe when there’s a fireman or policeman around. They know what it’s like to look into the eyes of a parent whose kid just died. They understand.” Still, Lara was scared to return to the dating world. How would she find the time to get to know someone when her life revolved exclusively around her kids, job, meetings, and workouts? Puffy-eyed and sulking, Lara moped into work at 11:15 a.m. “Are you coming from the breakfast?”
she’d never give you the job. But you didn’t even apply!” “I’m just astonished she would say something like that,” Juliette said, disappointed that the gossip was true. “It’s so completely unprofessional,” Bethany said, shaking her head. “What are you going to do?” “I don’t know. I’ve been done with this place for so long anyway.” Juliette thanked Bethany and went on with her workday. That evening, Juliette called Erica, the senior charge nurse who had resigned in November. She explained what
E. Diaz, California • Oswaldo Diaz, California • Dorothy Dickey, Georgia • Remy Dirige, California • Nena Ditrani, New Jersey • Colleen P. Ditro, Delaware • Katharine Dixon, Washington, DC • Patricia Dixon, Washington, DC • Aubrey D’Onofrio, Pennsylvania • Nita Murry Dotson, Texas • Jane Driscoll, California • John Drislane, New York • Roger Dulude Jr., Connecticut • Dahalia A. Dunbar, New York • Melissa Tolley Dunleavy, Pennsylvania • Katie Dunn, Maryland • Dawn K. Dust, Georgia • Diane Edman,
gasping breaths. Gradually, Juliette coaxed out the story. Nancy’s boy problem was that for nearly a year she had been dating Dr. Fontaine, a sexy charmer who worked in the ICU. That morning, Nancy had learned that Dr. Fontaine was also dating three nurses at Pines, and one of them was pregnant with his child. The pregnant nurse had told Nancy in person. Nancy was heartbroken. She couldn’t eat. As Juliette triaged her, diagnosing anxiety and a panic attack, she offered what consolation she
another doctor “who was known to freak out during codes. He said, ‘Oh my God, somebody help this man!’ It brought some levity to the code, had all the nurses laughing, and got everyone relaxed a bit during a very stressful event. The patient survived and the code was not affected at all by the joke.” Gallows humor is a way both to disconnect from a horrific situation and to connect with the other health team members who are together facing that situation. Humor has been shown to improve doctors’