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.

Tired of the pace and noise of life near London and longing for a better place to raise their young children, Mary J. MacLeod and her husband encountered their dream while vacationing on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. Enthralled by its windswept beauty, they soon were the proud owners of a near-derelict croft house—a farmer’s stone cottage—on “a small acre” of land. Mary assumed duties as the island’s district nurse. Call the Nurse is her account of the enchanted years she and her family spent there, coming to know its folk as both patients and friends. In anecdotes that are by turns funny, sad, moving, and tragic, she recalls them all, the crofters and their laird, the boatmen and tradesmen, young lovers and forbidding churchmen. Against the old-fashioned island culture and the grandeur of mountain and sea unfold indelible stories: a young woman carried through snow for airlift to the hospital; a rescue by boat; the marriage of a gentle giant and the island beauty; a ghostly encounter; the shocking discovery of a woman in chains; the flames of a heather fire at night; an unexploded bomb from World War II; and the joyful, tipsy celebration of a ceilidh. Gaelic fortitude meets a nurse’s compassion in these wonderful true stories from rural Scotland.

A critical-care nurse in coronary and emergency medicine for eighteen years, Echo Heron has seen and heard it all. Here she recounts narratives of real-life medical dramas experienced by nurses across the country, sharing with us the inspiring, the tragic, and the outrageously funny: a penitentiary nurse who wasresponsible for orchestrating a murderer's execution; a stroke victim who rose out of his depression when his nurses began telling him jokes; and, perhaps the most riveting testimony, moment-by-moment memories of several nurses who served in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. Filled with both tears and laughter and charged with the issues that afflict nursing care today, TENDING LIVES is a gripping, moving, inspiring book, a fitting tribute to a noble profession.

A must-read for nursing professionals, Bedlam Among the Bedpans: Humor in Nursing, includes over 100 of the funniest and most creative stories about nursing collected from nursing journals, books, and the internet that highlight the humor in the situations nurses face every day. Inspired by the experiences of real nurses, the stories relate situations with insights that only nurses who have "been there" in the field could have. Includes some of the best pieces of creative and humorous writing published in the past 20 years. Stories that help nurses see the humor in challenging situations they encounter every day. Funny cartoons and illustrations that add even more humor to the book. Compiled by an academic librarian, this book includes a carefully chosen and well-rounded collection of entertaining stories.

"Any readers who enjoyed the mix of romance, intrigue, and medical accuracy of Call the Midwife will love The War Nurse."—New York Journal of Books "[An] impeccably researched, well-drawn, based-on-a-true-story tale, written by a former RN...The War Nurse shines an important light on a woman whose story was, until now, lost to time."—Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names Based on a true story, The War Nurse is a sweeping historical novel by USA Today bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood that takes readers on an unforgettable journey through WWI France. She asked dozens of young women to lay their lives on the line during the Great War. Can she protect them? Superintendent of Nurses Julia Stimson must recruit sixty-four nurses to relieve the battle-worn British, months before American troops are ready to be deployed. She knows that the young nurses serving near the front lines will face a challenging situation, but nothing could have prepared her for the chaos that awaits when they arrive at British Base Hospital 12 in Rouen, France. The primitive conditions, a convoluted, ineffective system, and horrific battle wounds are enough to discourage the most hardened nurses, and Julia can do nothing but lead by example—even as the military doctors undermine her authority and make her question her very place in the hospital tent. When trainloads of soldiers stricken by a mysterious respiratory illness arrive one after the other, overwhelming the hospital's limited resources, and threatening the health of her staff, Julia faces an unthinkable choice—to step outside the bounds of her profession and risk the career she has fought so hard for, or to watch the people she cares for most die in her arms. Fans of Martha Hall Kelly's Lost Roses and Marie Benedict's Lady Clementine will devour this mesmerizing celebration of some of the most overlooked heroes in history: the fierce, determined, and brave nurses who treated soldiers in World War I. Praise for The War Nurse: "Through careful research, this book shows the incredible bravery and compassion of women who find themselves in extraordinary situations." —Julia Kelly, international bestselling author of The Last Garden in England and The Light Over London "A rich, gripping history of one woman's lifelong battle against systemic prejudice." —Stewart O'Nan, award-winning author of The Good Wife "Once again, Tracey Enerson Wood, with her impeccable research and evocative prose, kept me glued to the page. Wood has a talent for bringing strong, yet lesser-known women from history, to life." —Linda Rosen, author of The Disharmony of Silence "A riveting and surprisingly timely story of courage, sacrifice, and friendship forged at the front lines." —Kelly Mustian, author of The Girls in the Stilt House "If you, like me, are a voyeur of historical drama that unfolds as if the kitchen window flew open and the characters were caught in action, then The War Nurse is for you." —Diane Dewey, author of Fixing the Fates "Fans of Patricia Harman will love Wood's treatment of medical expertise in a historical setting." —Booklist

Do no harm. Take no sh*t.

Daybook for Beginning Nurses combines 365 daily inspirations, tips, quotes and essays on issues essential to new nurses with blank sections so readers can journal about their experiences. It can help to reduce nurses stress and increase satisfaction, encouraging them to stay in the profession. No-date format means a nurse can fill in dates and immediately start using the book perfect for December or May graduations.