I picked up this great autobiography by Echo Heron at Barnes and Noble the other day. (God I love that store!) Anyways, this book is Echo’s memoir of what it was like for her to go through nursing school and then work as a CCU and ER nurse. She does an excellent job of describing what the world of nursing is like, (all the triumphs and struggles involved in being a nurse), while at the same time giving you a picture of what it is like to deal with patients. The extremely personal stories were touching and helped to show me what the day to day will be like in my chosen field of study.
Echo doesn’t pull any punches as she leads us through her journey from idealistic young nursing student to battle tested ER and CCU veteran. Fights with administration, incompetent doctors, and her own burnout are all portrayed without any punches being pulled. At the end of the book, being able to see the frustration and burnout the Echo had to deal with… I found myself feeling like the young nursing student that was so shocked to see Echo go off on a patient, becoming the type of nurse she swore she’d never be.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in nursing, or anyone wanting an insight into American Healthcare.
Check out the LibraryThing page here: Intensive Care
