I wasn't strong like this when I started out : true stories of becoming a nurse

This Volume Collects The Stories Of Nurses At All Stages Of Their Careers: Passionate, Terrified, Sometimes Simply Exhausted, As They Discuss Their Experiences And The Nursing Profession, One Of The Most Challenging And Underappreciated Jobs In The World. Often, Nursing Demands Technical Expertise; Sometimes, As These Stories Reveal, Patients Also Need Something More Basic: A Hand To Hold, Or Someone To Listen Closely. Being On The Front Lines Of Medicine Requires Empathy, Fortitude, Knowledge, And Grace. Nurses, Now, More Than Ever, Are The Backbone Of The Healthcare System, The First Line In Providing The Best Possible Care For All Patients. Hitting The Bone / Eddie Lueken -- The Haunting / Thomas Schwarz -- Becoming A Nurse / Laura Devaney -- Next Of Kin / Josephine Ensign -- Healing Wang Jie's Bottom / L. Darby-zhao -- Zeitgeber / Denise Elliott -- A Long Night's Journey Into The Day / Theresa Brown -- Don't Every Forget Me / Christopher Lance Coleman -- Heart Lessons / Diane Kraynak -- Docking In Togo / Jennifer Binger, As Told To Ann Swindell -- I See You / Tilda Shalof -- Listening And Other Lifesaving Measures / Karla Theilen -- Careening Toward Reunion / Nina Gaby -- Nurse Nora At Nineteen / Nora Casper -- Four Sticks / Janice Dvorak -- Messiah, Not Otherwise Specified / Janet Gool -- All Alone And Afraid: Becoming A Person Through Nursing / Anna Gersman -- Individually Identifiable / Pamela Baker -- Approaching Death / Kimberly A. Condon -- The Nurses Whispered / Patricia A. Nugent -- Becoming / Lori Mulvihill. Edited By Lee Gutkind ; Foreword By Karen Wolk Feinstein. "This collection of true narratives reflects the dynamism and diversity of nurses, who provide the first vital line of patient care. Here, nurses remember their first "sticks," first births, and first deaths, and reflect on what gets them though long, demanding shifts, and keeps them in the profession. The stories reveal many voices from nurses at different stages of their careers: One nurse-in-training longs to be trusted with more "important" procedures, while another questions her ability to care for nursing home residents. An efficient young emergency room nurse finds his life and career irrevocably changed by a car accident. A nurse practitioner wonders whether she has violated professional boundaries in her care for a homeless man with AIDS, and a home care case manager is the sole attendee at a funeral for one of her patients. What connects these stories is the passion and strength of the writers, who struggle against burnout and bureaucracy to serve their patients with skill, empathy, and strength"--Publisher's description Introduction : Anonymous, irreplaceable nurse / Lee Gutkind Foreword : Art of meeting patient need / Karen Wolk Feinstein Hitting the bone / Eddie Lueken Haunting / Thomas Schwarz Becoming a nurse / Laura DeVaney Next of kin / Josephine Ensign Healing Wang Jie's bottom / L Darby-Zhao Zeitgeber / Denise Elliott Long night's journey into day / Theresa Brown Don't ever forget me / Christopher Lance Coleman Heart lessons / Diane Kraynak Docking in Togo / Jennifer Binger, as told to Ann Swindell I see you / Tilda Shalof Listening and other lifesaving measures / Karla Theilen Careening toward reunion / Nina Gaby Nurse Nora at nineteen / Nora Casper Four sticks / Janice Dvorak Messiah, not otherwise specified / Janet Gool All alone and afraid: becoming a person through nursing / Anna Gersman Individually identifiable / Pamela Baker Approaching death / Kimberly A Condon Nurses whispered / Patricia A Nugent Becoming / Lori Mulvihill.