Customer Reviews

Sue Barton, Staff Nurse

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This "Sue Barton" story starts with Sue happy at home with Bill and their four children, Tabitha, Johnny, Jerry, and Baby Sue. Life is peaceful. However, all this changes when Bill comes home from a fishing trip, suffering from pneumonia; and once he recovers from this, it is discovered that he has a small case of TB, and must go to a sanitarium for six months. Sue is upset, but decides to cope with the situation by going back to work.

She takes a staff nurse job at Springdale Hospital, and there she does the kind of work she likes best: direct interaction with the patients. There are many humorous vignettes involving the patients. But Sue worries that her fellow staff nurses may not accept her as one of them because she was once Superintendent of Nurses. And how will Sue's children --in the care of Sue's trustworthy housekeeper, Veazie Ann-- take to Sue's going back to work?

This is one of my favorite "Sue Barton" books. I enjoyed the description of holidays in the hospital, (Christmas, New Year's); as well as the subplot of the romance between student nurse Margot Harrison and young Dr. Frank Warren. (I did feel that Margot was a little too good for Frank, though!) Sue's trying to keep a balance between her career and homelife still resonates to working mothers today. Highly recommended.

The book arrived a little later than expected, although within the time promised. It was in very good condition and worth the wait. It was a good value!