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Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient

Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient

by Theresa Brown

Algonquin Books ·2022 ·272 pages
Bottom of the Pile
Bottom of the Pile
I Index
18/99
Maybe Someday

28/99

Critics' Rating Index

Bottom of the Pile

7/99

Readers' Rating Index

n/a

Scholars' Citation Index

51/99

Volume of Reviews

51/99

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About This Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Shift comes a frank look at navigating the world of healthcare as a cancer nurse becomes a patient and experiences the system from the other side.​ Despite her training and years of experience as an oncology and hospice nurse, Brown finds it difficult to navigate the medical maze from the other side of the bed. Why is she so often left in the dark about procedures and treatments? Why is she expected to research her own best treatment options? Why is there so much red tape? At times she's mad at herself for not speaking up and asking for what she needs but knows that being a "difficult" patient could mean she gets worse care. Of the almost four million women in this country living with breast cancer, many have had, like Brown, a treatable form of the disease. Both unnerving and extremely relatable, her experience shows us how our for-profit health care industry "cures" us but at the same time leaves so many of us feeling alienated and uncared for. As she did so brilliantly in her New York Times bestseller, The Shift , Brown relays the unforgettable details of her daily life—the needles, the chemo drugs, the rubber gloves, the bureaucratic frustrations—but this time from her new perch as a patient, looking back at some of her own cases and considering what she didn't know then about the warping effects of fear and the healing virtues of compassion. "People failed me when I was a patient and I failed patients when working as a nurse. I see that now," she writes. Healing is must-read for all of us who have tried to find healing through our health-care system.


Reviews

"While her prose is easy to understand, the multitude and length of the chapters in Healing — 39 in all, each two to eight pages — can feel disjointed."

Kate Pickert· The New York Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Brown's own journey is largely described positively, but she lays bare the wounds inflicted by an imperfect health system."

Rachel M. Minkin· Library Journal Read review ↗ Near the Top

"By sharing her story, Brown delivers much-needed advocacy for those who are often ignored or misunderstood ..."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"It's crucial to mention that Brown does always get the answers she needs eventually, either by calling up powerful people in her healthcare network, or her husband, to tug the strings for her."

Michelle Polizzi· The Chicago Review of Books Read review ↗ Near the Top

"A longtime contributor to the New York Times on health-care issues, Brown writes with a winning combination of passion, humor and medical knowledge ..."

Barbara J. King· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Near the Top

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