Dear Lit Loves,
Greetings fellow lovers of literature I was attending a medical appointment with my Meniere's disease specialist here in North Carolina today. While waiting for my consultation and subsequent hearing tests, I was reading a medical memoir written by a popular surgeon. When I returned home from my appointment, I started working on writing a review of the surgeon's memoir when it dawned on me that what constitutes a good or stellar memoir varies depending on the person you ask. Let me explain what I've personally experienced in terms of what an agent believes is a good memoir, what a writer believes is good memoir, and what a reader often defines as a good memoir because I can assure you, there are very real and distinct differences especially among the three.
Literary agents, in my experience, appear to prioritize "platform" when acquiring in the memoir genre. One friend of mine that I recently had lunch with thought this meant that the literary agent wanted a memoir writer who was also a good speaker. If that were the case, she thought I would have no problem because I have a background in education and have taught public speaking. I informed my friend that for many a literary agent "platform" means you are a celebrity, rock icon, gangster, morning show host, or sports figure. Someone who is a household name. Now "platform"for many literary agents can also mean you have a grand social media following. This type of "platform" can take the form of a writer with 6,000 Twitter followers, 1,000 Facebook friends, or a gazillion blog followers. To this my friend said, "But what about the content, the experience? Shouldn't that be the top priority?" Well, you would think that should be at the top of the list, but again, based on my experiences as a writer, I'm not sure that really matters to many a literary agent acquiring in the memoir genre. And quite a few literary agents want to acquire memoirs written by journalists, reporters, opinion columnists, or academics. Now maybe those writers do come with a built-in audience, but I often find that memoirs by writers with that type of background write a memoir like it's a report they will discuss on the six o'clock news or a subject on which they will give a research lecture. Their memoirs often do not flow like a story or personal tale and those memoirs have very little of the author's voice conveyed in the writing so the book comes across to me as dry and boring. Finally, literary agents have indicated in their query guidelines that they just want a good story well-told. From my experience, this usually means the agent wants lyrical, poetic or what I call "sing-songy" writing. When I read memoirs written in this manner, I usually find myself putting the book down and thinking, could you just tell the story and get to the point! And usually the theme or lesson of the memoir may or may not be readily identified and explained by the average reader.
Now, as a writer in the memoir genre here is what I think about when I question if I should consider writing about specific experiences: Is this experience relevant? Will my story resonate with other readers, primarily women? Does the experience I am writing about reflect important women's issues? Is there anything from my experience that would be helpful to someone else? Are the experiences I am writing about going to reflect my life passion and distinct southern voice? And above all, will my story hold the attention of the reader and keep them interested? To me, social media is not as important as the story I am telling and if I have a unique way or manner of communicating that story. And let's be honest, social media did not always exist. I have no problem with maintaining a website and blog as well as being connected on LinkedIn and Goodreads, but Twitter I find obnoxious and Facebook to me is just too invasive. I don't need to share every detail or picture of my life with the whole world. To me, Facebook is a way of people tooting their own horn, sharing way too much information, and a way for many people to find validation. I've never needed Facebook or MySpace to know I'm a worthy individual with valuable insights to communicate whether via writing, speaking, or teaching. So sue me! I LIKE being considered "old school".
Finally, as a reader I will tell you that I most likely will NOT read a celebrity memoir. I want to read a memoir written by a female writer that is telling a story about experiences that reflect an issue that is timely and important to women today such as overcoming domestic violence, finding your calling in life, the strong bonds of female friendship, dysfunctional families, developing a brave soul and standing up for yourself, elder care, being your own best patient advocate within the quite chaotic medical establishment we have today, and handling family drama as well as coping with the death of a parent. And here's another tidbit: many memoir authors today have websites, blogs, etc. and offer ways to contact them. The problem is this: many of those memoir authors do not respond to their readers or the people who bought their book, paid good money for it, and helped put the writer on the bestseller list. And to me, that's just shameful. If you can't be bothered to respond to your readers then what was your real motivation for writing the book? If you can't at least send a proper "thank you" when a reader writes you then I think you might need a good and serious reality check. Never, ever take your memoir readers for granted. If you do take them for granted, they probably will not be buying your next book, recommending a book of yours to others, or supporting you in growing your writing career.
Thanks Lit Loves. I really needed to get that off my chest.
Happy Reading!
Grace
(Amy)
Monday, November 23, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
The Memoir I Voted For In The 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards
Dear Lit Loves,
Well, I have to say that after looking at the list of books that made the finalist list under the Autobiography/Memoir genre for The 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards, I was disappointed. Actually, I almost didn't even cast a vote at all. I'm not a fan of celebrity memoir or autobiography unless your name happens to be Julia Roberts or Meryl Streep. I don't buy celebrity memoirs because I try to make my living via writing whether via teaching writing skills, editing, or attempting to get my own personal narrative/memoir manuscripts published. Writing is My Cup Of Joe so to speak. Celebrities have usually already made serious money by the time they or someone else writes the story of their life. So if you are a television show host, actor/actress, sports star, musician, etc., you might as well hang it up if you are waiting for me to buy your book or for me to advise others to buy your book. In my opinion, over half the books that made the final cut in the memoir/autobiography category on Goodreads were about celebrities. There's a big difference between celebrity memoir and what I call "mainstream" memoir which is written by your normal, average Jane or Joe. In other words,
I prefer memoirs like Wild and The Glass Castle and The Rules of Inheritance over anything by Patti Smith, Georgia H.W. Bush, or Mindy Kaling. I want to read how "real" people who haven't already acquired spoils and riches via another line of work handled life issues; people who don't have body guards, a weekly television show, a rock band, or who are already paid well for hosting a television network show. The celebrity stories are important to a degree and I'm not taking anything away from them except to say there is a distinct difference between "celebrity" memoir and "mainstream" memoir.
So I voted for Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland by Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus (with Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan), a memoir about how these two young women handled the experience of being abducted, held captive, and mistreated by a delusional maniac who believed he owned them and how they coped for years living in isolation with no one knowing what had happened to them or if they were even still alive. Talk about having your life shattered and learning to live with trauma that will probably haunt these women for the rest of their lives. And yes, I know they were in the news and covered by local and national media which did make them somewhat familiar to us all, but really, they were just teenagers living their lives until catastrophe struck. Those are the stories that inspire me. I will always endorse a memoir written by a "mainstream", "normal" woman who speaks openly of catastrophe, hardship, impoverishment, domestic violence, etc. and lays her bare soul on the page. That's what we're lacking presently in the memoir category and that's the type of memoir we need to see more of, but until literary agents, editors, and publishers grasp the importance, relevance, and potential of these type of books we're just going to be bombarded with celebrity memoirs. And that my fellow book lovers is a real and total shame and a black eye for the publishing industry.
Until my next rant, review, or update,
Grace
(Amy)
Well, I have to say that after looking at the list of books that made the finalist list under the Autobiography/Memoir genre for The 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards, I was disappointed. Actually, I almost didn't even cast a vote at all. I'm not a fan of celebrity memoir or autobiography unless your name happens to be Julia Roberts or Meryl Streep. I don't buy celebrity memoirs because I try to make my living via writing whether via teaching writing skills, editing, or attempting to get my own personal narrative/memoir manuscripts published. Writing is My Cup Of Joe so to speak. Celebrities have usually already made serious money by the time they or someone else writes the story of their life. So if you are a television show host, actor/actress, sports star, musician, etc., you might as well hang it up if you are waiting for me to buy your book or for me to advise others to buy your book. In my opinion, over half the books that made the final cut in the memoir/autobiography category on Goodreads were about celebrities. There's a big difference between celebrity memoir and what I call "mainstream" memoir which is written by your normal, average Jane or Joe. In other words,
I prefer memoirs like Wild and The Glass Castle and The Rules of Inheritance over anything by Patti Smith, Georgia H.W. Bush, or Mindy Kaling. I want to read how "real" people who haven't already acquired spoils and riches via another line of work handled life issues; people who don't have body guards, a weekly television show, a rock band, or who are already paid well for hosting a television network show. The celebrity stories are important to a degree and I'm not taking anything away from them except to say there is a distinct difference between "celebrity" memoir and "mainstream" memoir.
So I voted for Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland by Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus (with Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan), a memoir about how these two young women handled the experience of being abducted, held captive, and mistreated by a delusional maniac who believed he owned them and how they coped for years living in isolation with no one knowing what had happened to them or if they were even still alive. Talk about having your life shattered and learning to live with trauma that will probably haunt these women for the rest of their lives. And yes, I know they were in the news and covered by local and national media which did make them somewhat familiar to us all, but really, they were just teenagers living their lives until catastrophe struck. Those are the stories that inspire me. I will always endorse a memoir written by a "mainstream", "normal" woman who speaks openly of catastrophe, hardship, impoverishment, domestic violence, etc. and lays her bare soul on the page. That's what we're lacking presently in the memoir category and that's the type of memoir we need to see more of, but until literary agents, editors, and publishers grasp the importance, relevance, and potential of these type of books we're just going to be bombarded with celebrity memoirs. And that my fellow book lovers is a real and total shame and a black eye for the publishing industry.
Until my next rant, review, or update,
Grace
(Amy)
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Review: The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama, And Miracles With The Heroes Of The Hospital by Alexandra Robbins
Dear Lit Loves,
As regular readers of my blog probably know I write about the personal experiences I have encountered with our medical system in this country via my own peculiar illnesses including Uveitis, Uveitic glaucoma, Meniere's disease, and some unknown or undiagnosed autoimmune disorder that is believed to have given rise to all these illnesses (no one's been able to pin down an exact autoimmune problem). Additionally, I've seen my dad cope with Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, a stem cell transplant, quintuple heart bypass surgery, and most recently, a new targeted drug therapy which eliminated the cancer yet subsequently, my dad died this year of pneumonia and heart failure. My mom has had breast cancer and I've dealt with basal cell carcinoma which was a walk in the park compared with potentially losing my eyesight and hearing. Thus, I may not be the best person to evaluate the book entitled The Nurses: A Year Of Secrets, Drama, And Miracles With The Heroes Of The Hospital because I admit I am a bit biased as I think the real heroes of the hospital are the patients themselves. Since I've been reading books that address the medical chaos my family and I have experienced, I'm always ready to read what someone else thinks of the medical establishment and what types of experiences they have encountered with hospitals, doctors, interns, residents, hospital administrations, etc.
First let me say that in my opinion the book The Nurses: A Year Of Secrets, Drama, And Miracles With The Heroes Of The Hospital is not necessarily exclusively memoir or exclusively narrative nonfiction; I think it is actually a combination of both. It was written by an experienced journalist. Ms. Robbins follows the stories of four different nurses who are at different levels in their nursing careers. She also gives quite a bit of detailed information on the burnout rate of nurses, inadequate working conditions nurses encounter, the gallows humor doctors and nurses utilize to "blow off steam", the clique-like nature among many nurses, and the notion that many nurses suffer a form of post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the injuries they witness and treat or hostile patients and a patient's family members. So let's start first by taking a look at the four nurses the author shadowed.
Nurse #1: I am referring to the nurses as numbers because I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who has yet to read it. Nurse #1 is in my opinion, the best of the group. She's ethical, will stand up for herself in the face of an arrogant doctor, and can work effectively as a nurse in almost any kind of hospital whether it's a hospital located in the most violent part of a town or one located in the suburbs visited by affluent patients. She recognizes when she is exhibiting symptoms of nurse fatigue or burnout and she has ways of taking care of herself and assuaging the demands of the job so she can always bring her "A" game to work. She appears to be a team player and never displays any tendency to misuse some of the powerful drugs she is required to administer to patients.
Nurse #2: Nurse #2 is the chief breadwinner for her family. She has a rather revolting husband who she acknowledges probably cheats on her, is verbally and emotionally abrasive toward her, and who appears not to really care when she finally leaves him. He stays home and takes care of the kids and depends on Nurse #2 to provide for him and the kids though she moved out and relocated to an apartment. This nurse also had a tendency to suffer migraine headaches which she often did not have time to take off work and go to a neurologist for examination and prescriptive meds. She had a previous drug problem as a teenager I believe and she falls into using leftover vials of pain meds to alleviate her headaches and the pain from them. She finally admits to stealing and utilizing the pain meds and in order to save her nursing license, she goes for drug abuse treatment and spends several years on desk duty or probation before she is allowed to return to being a bedside or ER nurse. The interesting part is that a hospital later recruits her to improve conditions for nurses at the hospital; however, she appears to be the only one to really buy into the concept of improving conditions. The hospital had formed a group of medical personnel to find ways to improve nurse morale, but none of the more important ideas are ever truly implemented by the hospital administration even though they are aware that nursing morale is a its lowest and they have a high turnover rate among nurses.
Nurse #3: Nurse #3 has the tendency to allow a charge nurse to assign her way too many patients than she can properly care for or supervise in a single shift. She realizes that there is a clique of nurses on her unit. They go out together, correspond online, and in Nurse #3's opinion, exclude her from the group. Honestly, it was almost like high school social cliques. I found the whole idea juvenile, but this nurse felt she was being excluded and it led to quite a bit of resentment. And I had no idea how one nurse or group of nurses can actually demonstrate bullying behavior until this nurse's experience. Nurse #3 is well-skilled and devoted. She had a tendency to overshare detail from her personal life with her charge nurse in an effort to make a friend or possibly gain entrance to the nurse clique in her unit. This backfires when she wants to move up the clinical nursing ladder as the charge nurse uses that personal information not to recommend her for a higher position.
Nurse #4: Nurse #4 is the youngest and least experienced among the group of nurses that were shadowed by Ms. Robbins. She initially is shy and to me, makes some questionable choices when it comes to combining your private life and career life. At one point she dates a doctor on her unit who is many years older than her. And it appeared that she had a reputation for getting involved with medical staff at other hospitals where she worked. She does develop her confidence to stand up to senior nurses who like to bully new nurses and I was proud that Nurse #4 did learn to not be afraid to question doctors and do what is necessary to advocate for the patients for whom she is responsible.
The amount of research the journalist author did was astounding. For example, the most frequent bullying medical personnel are general surgeons, cardiovascular surgeons, cardiologists, othopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, and neurologists. The hospital departments most likely to have bullying employees included the Operating Room, Medical Surgery Unit, Intensive Care Unit, and the Emergency Room. The worst holiday for nurses appears to be New Year's Day and that's because of the number of drunks that go to the hospital. There appears to be an unspoken "Code of Silence"among nurses in that you do not "rat out" another nurse if you see her displaying suspicious or questionable behavior. The worst time of the year to get sick appears to be in July when there is a mass influx of new interns and residents that become directly indoctrinated into hands-on patient care. The hospital morgue is never labeled "Morgue", but something more along the lines of Anatomical Pathology so hospital patients and visitors don't get freaked out by the notion of death or dead people. Even if as a patient you have a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) paper, it might get ignored if you are unconscious and your family puts up a fight to have you ventilated and treatment continued. I definitely did not agree with the notion of experts recommending healthcare professionals use gallows humor as a survival tactic and as a means of preventing burnout. Now, it's one thing for nurses to prank one another. It's a whole other ballgame when doctors make fun of obese patients on the operating table or hospital personnel keeping something known as a "butt box" for all the different items that have to be removed from patient rectums. Honestly, I thought that was unsanitary and gross. Also, I found it highly immature of hospital personnel placing bets on patient outcomes of risky surgical procedures, a patient's blood-alcohol level, or who can best guess the incoming injuries of a patient arriving by ambulance. Hello! This not high school folks! And who in the world knew that there was such a thing as a "slow code" which basically means hospital personnel are to respond slowly to a patient who is not expected to survive and responding hospital personnel should just generally go through the motions of attempting to revive the patient.
Honestly, we're going to need more nurses in the future with all the baby boomers who are retiring and living longer. According to this book, good work environments for nurses include favorable/low patient-nurse ratios, positive and not demeaning nurse-doctor relations, nurses being involved in hospital decisions, and managerial or charge nurse support for nurses who have no choice but to take on eight patients at one time. I would venture to say it would be important to have fellow nurses who are supportive as well and to work as a team.
What do nurses advise for hospital patients? Have a family member with you at the hospital and have someone who can be the spokesperson that interacts with the nurses and doctors so that person can relay the information to all the other family members. Ask questions of your doctor. Honestly, if a doctor doesn't present a condition or treatment in terms you understand, by God, make him/her repeat it or find someone who can explain it to you so you are well-informed. Patients should be informed by knowing their meds, diagnoses, allergies, and emergency contact numbers. Also, watch the hygiene habits of hospital staff members. If hospital personnel do not wash their hands before touching you, ask them to do so because you're safety and well-being may depend on it. I felt the nurses left out the need for hospital patients to have a living will or how much extraneous care do you wish for yourself if you are incapacitated. Make sure you have a healthcare power of attorney and that the hospital personnel knows who that is. Also, if you wish for your doctors and nurses to provide updates and health information to extra members of your family such as children, you better make sure you've signed a HIPAA waiver form that enables doctors and nurses to exchange that information or those family members could be left in the dark completely.
I learned quite a bit about the nursing profession and the positives and negatives of a career in nursing from this book. As a person who writes strictly memoir, it was often hard to keep up with the personal narratives of four nurses from chapter to chapter because nursing research and statistics often concluded each chapter. I missed the continuity of following the story of each nurse and oftentimes found I had to go back and reread a section just to make sure I was clear on what was occurring for each shadowed nurse throughout the book's entirety. The research information was outstanding and concise. I now know that I will be paying attention to the actions of nurses I encounter at each clinic or hospital visit I make based on what I've read in this book. It makes for a more informed patient and a more informed patient advocate. And most people will tell you I am all for information sharing and being your own best medical advocate.
Till my next read or publishing update,
Grace
(Amy)
As regular readers of my blog probably know I write about the personal experiences I have encountered with our medical system in this country via my own peculiar illnesses including Uveitis, Uveitic glaucoma, Meniere's disease, and some unknown or undiagnosed autoimmune disorder that is believed to have given rise to all these illnesses (no one's been able to pin down an exact autoimmune problem). Additionally, I've seen my dad cope with Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, a stem cell transplant, quintuple heart bypass surgery, and most recently, a new targeted drug therapy which eliminated the cancer yet subsequently, my dad died this year of pneumonia and heart failure. My mom has had breast cancer and I've dealt with basal cell carcinoma which was a walk in the park compared with potentially losing my eyesight and hearing. Thus, I may not be the best person to evaluate the book entitled The Nurses: A Year Of Secrets, Drama, And Miracles With The Heroes Of The Hospital because I admit I am a bit biased as I think the real heroes of the hospital are the patients themselves. Since I've been reading books that address the medical chaos my family and I have experienced, I'm always ready to read what someone else thinks of the medical establishment and what types of experiences they have encountered with hospitals, doctors, interns, residents, hospital administrations, etc.
First let me say that in my opinion the book The Nurses: A Year Of Secrets, Drama, And Miracles With The Heroes Of The Hospital is not necessarily exclusively memoir or exclusively narrative nonfiction; I think it is actually a combination of both. It was written by an experienced journalist. Ms. Robbins follows the stories of four different nurses who are at different levels in their nursing careers. She also gives quite a bit of detailed information on the burnout rate of nurses, inadequate working conditions nurses encounter, the gallows humor doctors and nurses utilize to "blow off steam", the clique-like nature among many nurses, and the notion that many nurses suffer a form of post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the injuries they witness and treat or hostile patients and a patient's family members. So let's start first by taking a look at the four nurses the author shadowed.
Nurse #1: I am referring to the nurses as numbers because I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who has yet to read it. Nurse #1 is in my opinion, the best of the group. She's ethical, will stand up for herself in the face of an arrogant doctor, and can work effectively as a nurse in almost any kind of hospital whether it's a hospital located in the most violent part of a town or one located in the suburbs visited by affluent patients. She recognizes when she is exhibiting symptoms of nurse fatigue or burnout and she has ways of taking care of herself and assuaging the demands of the job so she can always bring her "A" game to work. She appears to be a team player and never displays any tendency to misuse some of the powerful drugs she is required to administer to patients.
Nurse #2: Nurse #2 is the chief breadwinner for her family. She has a rather revolting husband who she acknowledges probably cheats on her, is verbally and emotionally abrasive toward her, and who appears not to really care when she finally leaves him. He stays home and takes care of the kids and depends on Nurse #2 to provide for him and the kids though she moved out and relocated to an apartment. This nurse also had a tendency to suffer migraine headaches which she often did not have time to take off work and go to a neurologist for examination and prescriptive meds. She had a previous drug problem as a teenager I believe and she falls into using leftover vials of pain meds to alleviate her headaches and the pain from them. She finally admits to stealing and utilizing the pain meds and in order to save her nursing license, she goes for drug abuse treatment and spends several years on desk duty or probation before she is allowed to return to being a bedside or ER nurse. The interesting part is that a hospital later recruits her to improve conditions for nurses at the hospital; however, she appears to be the only one to really buy into the concept of improving conditions. The hospital had formed a group of medical personnel to find ways to improve nurse morale, but none of the more important ideas are ever truly implemented by the hospital administration even though they are aware that nursing morale is a its lowest and they have a high turnover rate among nurses.
Nurse #3: Nurse #3 has the tendency to allow a charge nurse to assign her way too many patients than she can properly care for or supervise in a single shift. She realizes that there is a clique of nurses on her unit. They go out together, correspond online, and in Nurse #3's opinion, exclude her from the group. Honestly, it was almost like high school social cliques. I found the whole idea juvenile, but this nurse felt she was being excluded and it led to quite a bit of resentment. And I had no idea how one nurse or group of nurses can actually demonstrate bullying behavior until this nurse's experience. Nurse #3 is well-skilled and devoted. She had a tendency to overshare detail from her personal life with her charge nurse in an effort to make a friend or possibly gain entrance to the nurse clique in her unit. This backfires when she wants to move up the clinical nursing ladder as the charge nurse uses that personal information not to recommend her for a higher position.
Nurse #4: Nurse #4 is the youngest and least experienced among the group of nurses that were shadowed by Ms. Robbins. She initially is shy and to me, makes some questionable choices when it comes to combining your private life and career life. At one point she dates a doctor on her unit who is many years older than her. And it appeared that she had a reputation for getting involved with medical staff at other hospitals where she worked. She does develop her confidence to stand up to senior nurses who like to bully new nurses and I was proud that Nurse #4 did learn to not be afraid to question doctors and do what is necessary to advocate for the patients for whom she is responsible.
The amount of research the journalist author did was astounding. For example, the most frequent bullying medical personnel are general surgeons, cardiovascular surgeons, cardiologists, othopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, and neurologists. The hospital departments most likely to have bullying employees included the Operating Room, Medical Surgery Unit, Intensive Care Unit, and the Emergency Room. The worst holiday for nurses appears to be New Year's Day and that's because of the number of drunks that go to the hospital. There appears to be an unspoken "Code of Silence"among nurses in that you do not "rat out" another nurse if you see her displaying suspicious or questionable behavior. The worst time of the year to get sick appears to be in July when there is a mass influx of new interns and residents that become directly indoctrinated into hands-on patient care. The hospital morgue is never labeled "Morgue", but something more along the lines of Anatomical Pathology so hospital patients and visitors don't get freaked out by the notion of death or dead people. Even if as a patient you have a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) paper, it might get ignored if you are unconscious and your family puts up a fight to have you ventilated and treatment continued. I definitely did not agree with the notion of experts recommending healthcare professionals use gallows humor as a survival tactic and as a means of preventing burnout. Now, it's one thing for nurses to prank one another. It's a whole other ballgame when doctors make fun of obese patients on the operating table or hospital personnel keeping something known as a "butt box" for all the different items that have to be removed from patient rectums. Honestly, I thought that was unsanitary and gross. Also, I found it highly immature of hospital personnel placing bets on patient outcomes of risky surgical procedures, a patient's blood-alcohol level, or who can best guess the incoming injuries of a patient arriving by ambulance. Hello! This not high school folks! And who in the world knew that there was such a thing as a "slow code" which basically means hospital personnel are to respond slowly to a patient who is not expected to survive and responding hospital personnel should just generally go through the motions of attempting to revive the patient.
Honestly, we're going to need more nurses in the future with all the baby boomers who are retiring and living longer. According to this book, good work environments for nurses include favorable/low patient-nurse ratios, positive and not demeaning nurse-doctor relations, nurses being involved in hospital decisions, and managerial or charge nurse support for nurses who have no choice but to take on eight patients at one time. I would venture to say it would be important to have fellow nurses who are supportive as well and to work as a team.
What do nurses advise for hospital patients? Have a family member with you at the hospital and have someone who can be the spokesperson that interacts with the nurses and doctors so that person can relay the information to all the other family members. Ask questions of your doctor. Honestly, if a doctor doesn't present a condition or treatment in terms you understand, by God, make him/her repeat it or find someone who can explain it to you so you are well-informed. Patients should be informed by knowing their meds, diagnoses, allergies, and emergency contact numbers. Also, watch the hygiene habits of hospital staff members. If hospital personnel do not wash their hands before touching you, ask them to do so because you're safety and well-being may depend on it. I felt the nurses left out the need for hospital patients to have a living will or how much extraneous care do you wish for yourself if you are incapacitated. Make sure you have a healthcare power of attorney and that the hospital personnel knows who that is. Also, if you wish for your doctors and nurses to provide updates and health information to extra members of your family such as children, you better make sure you've signed a HIPAA waiver form that enables doctors and nurses to exchange that information or those family members could be left in the dark completely.
I learned quite a bit about the nursing profession and the positives and negatives of a career in nursing from this book. As a person who writes strictly memoir, it was often hard to keep up with the personal narratives of four nurses from chapter to chapter because nursing research and statistics often concluded each chapter. I missed the continuity of following the story of each nurse and oftentimes found I had to go back and reread a section just to make sure I was clear on what was occurring for each shadowed nurse throughout the book's entirety. The research information was outstanding and concise. I now know that I will be paying attention to the actions of nurses I encounter at each clinic or hospital visit I make based on what I've read in this book. It makes for a more informed patient and a more informed patient advocate. And most people will tell you I am all for information sharing and being your own best medical advocate.
Till my next read or publishing update,
Grace
(Amy)
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