Nurses On Our Own [Paperback]

Karon Gibson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2000

THEY FOUGHT FOR THEIR PROFESSION!Karon and Joy were young, idealistic nurseson their own.Through the perilous adventures of establishing a private nursing practice and dramatic court battle to regain their professional reputations after being fired by a powerful hospital establishment.An inspiring story, here is the astonishing, updated story of two women who defied the entire medical of women willing to fight for their ideals.Chattanooga TimesEncourages other womennurses or notto consider their options.Milwaukee Journal

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A story of the spunky women in white who challenged the system and won." -- Chicago Sun-Times

About the Author

Karon White Gibson and Joy Smith Catterson were hospital nurses before becoming Independent Nurse Practitioners in Chicago. The unprecedented move made them entrepreneurs and nurses to movie stars and led to other challenging opportunities. Today, Karon produces and hosts TV medical talk shows in Illinois and Florida. Joy continues in the health care industry.Author Patricia Skalka lives in Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse (November 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595143628
• ISBN-13: 978-0595143627
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,841,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nurses Story Makes Great Reading, March 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Nurses On Our Own (Paperback)

I thought this book was outstanding. It really showed that anyone can make it. These women had to struggle against a powerful hospital and society's misconceptions about the role of nurses in health care. I was especially intrigued by the adventures Karon and Joy had as independent nurse practicioners. The book gave me a new respect for the nursing profession.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a nonfiction novel of nursing adventures, May 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Nurses On Our Own (Paperback)

These two nurses and friends were conserative educated nurses who were forced to fight the hospital establishment in order to be patient advocates. They created the first independent nursing practice in the US and became the first nurses ever called Nurse Practicioners. Their husbands played a large part -both were Chicago police officers. One owned a detective agency and the nurses also became investigators. This is a story of transformation of women, jobs, friendships etc. It gives all women a glimpse into the mystique of medicine, hospitals, psychiatric units, movie sets, nursing in an amusement park . These two women started with very different lives-one the mother of four-the other a determined career woman. An accident to one the pregnant one creates opportunities for them in their lives that they never expected and lead them to becoming entrepeneurs, speakers, businesswomen, leaders in nursing, nurses on movie sets and in amusement parks. They treat everyone from the penniless to the multimillionaires from the gold coast to the ghetto in their journey to advance their careers and themselves. One battles with her husband's alcoholism until he becomes a runner. This is a story of success, dreams and relationships. This is a non fiction novel if their were such a thing. It leads you into the homes of patients, doctor's offices,insurance companies, hospitals, occupational and corporate health and various other settings.They meet and treat movie stars, politicians and famous clergy. Their consultant doctor is a replica of "Dr Welby' with a playboy image. They are called modern day Joan of arcs and succeed in their case against a large metropolitan hospital and go on to write this book which was optioned for a tv movie of their characters. You can reach them as I did at 8l5-773-4497.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poor editing but inspiring story, June 20, 2008

By 

K. Ridgeway (Naperville, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nurses On Our Own (Paperback)

This was a fascinating story about 2 nurses who longed to use all of their skills and talents to serve their patients/clients, as clearly related in the first review of this book. However, the story is marred by poor editing -- way too much detail about their personal lives in some places (which does not add to the story); and huge gaps in time covered in a short amount of material in other places. I think it took them way too long to get to the heart of the story. However, because they were among the very first to set up independent practice, the story is inspiring to all who want to persevere despite difficult challenges.