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The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives 1st Edition

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Theresa Brown (Author)
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Theresa Brown (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 94 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-1616203207
ISBN-10: 161620320X
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1 edition (September 22, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 161620320X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1616203207
  • Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars"Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand and Eternity in an hour."
By E. Bukowsky HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on October 20, 2015
Format: Hardcover
Twelve hours may seem like a lifetime, especially if you are an oncology nurse. In "The Shift," forty-five year old Theresa Brown leaves her Pittsburgh home, where her husband and kids are still asleep, and rides her bike to the hospital on a cold November morning. She arrives at her destination, changes into her scrubs, confers with colleagues, and begins tending to her patients. Her fervent hope is that the extremely sick people on her ward will eventually go home cancer-free.

Brown has a PhD in English and taught at Tufts University before she made the change to nursing. Why would anyone give up the tranquility of academia for such a demanding job, especially in today's climate of managed care, cost-cutting, and intrusive bureaucracy? Brown admits that she is overworked, frequently exhausted, and sometimes unappreciated. She needs roller skates to carry out such duties as checking vital signs, making sure that IVs are working properly, talking to concerned relatives, administering pain medication, changing dressings, and helping prep patients for medical procedures. Tragically, in spite of the best efforts of health care practitioners, things can go terribly wrong.

Gradually, we begin to understand why Brown loves what she does. She has the temperament to deal with the drama and intensity of critical care nursing. Furthermore, she senses when a soothing voice, gentle touch, and kind word can help someone feel less frightened. Whether she is comforting a young firefighter whose cancer was in remission but has returned; mollifying a cantankerous patient; trying to relieve the excruciating pain of a woman whose condition is more serious than her doctors initially suspected; or readying someone for discharge, Brown knows that what she does for a living matters greatly.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsThis book was very meaningful to me
By Kindle Customer on October 4, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I relived my life as an RN on oncology. I loved my life as nurse and enjoyed the depth of understanding of caring as a nurse- the rewards and the costs. I never worked a straight 12 hour shift. The exhaustion must be tremendous. I worked the eight hour shifts and know the depth of physical and emotional exhaustion. Our patients returned and we were their hospital family. Some I will never forget. I can only hope I gave them what they needed.
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5.0 out of 5 starslike, distills what is important
By David Watson on September 29, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This book, like Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, distills what is important. It is ironic that we need to look closely at mortality to understand what it means to be alive. This book shows how getting close to death, either as a medical professional or as a patient, can strip away nonsense--vanity, narcissism, grasping, selfishness. This is a book full wisdom and spiritual wonder.

In a world that avoids wisdom and seems to increase material grasping, hatred, war, terrorism, destruction of the planet, gross poverty and inequality, the trend toward wisdom, especially looking closely at dying, empathy, kindness and love, is crucial to realizing ourselves as human beings and ultimately our survival as a species. Medicine and wisdom seem to be merging for many practioniers and medical consumer. This trend and this book provide reason for hope in a world of material and spiritual suffering.

Theresa Brown is a wonderful writer, and makes wisdom concrete: her details and characterizations bring us right into the scenes, and into the specifics of realizing wisdom--kindness and compassion. We need these stories to become wise.
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5.0 out of 5 starsStudent nurses (or those that want to be): Read this book!
By S. Zendzian on November 25, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I teach pre-program nursing students and this book should be required reading for them. It offers a clear and realistic view of what a nurse does during her shift at the hospital, and how the hospital carries over into the rest of her day. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about poop, as it presents in no-nonsense language the full spectrum of nurses' duties, obligations, and preoccupations. A great read!
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5.0 out of 5 starsI could not put this book down.
By Karen K. King on October 2, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
A waking of the senses. I had an idea of what nurses do, but this opened my eyes to their amazing world of giving. It should be considered an art.
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5.0 out of 5 starsAppreciate your RN's!
By It's me! on November 16, 2015
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I tend to read more than one book at once, and this is a difficult book to put down and come back to. Meaning, the chapters are longer and there doesn't seem to be a logical break point in the chapters.
Theresa is describing one 12 hour shift in her oncology unit. Even though she "only" has to deal with 4 patients, it's amazing that she can keep things straight. I found myself thinking, "I'm sure I would drop the ball somewhere, and that can be someones life".
If you know someone that is thinking of going into the medical field, doctor or RN, this is a great book.
Highly recommend.
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5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent
By Chloe on February 6, 2016
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Loved this book. I"m a nurse and even though I work in a totally different field, she perfectly captured that scattered brain feeling of trying not to forget everything that needs doing for your patients while changing your plans every ten minutes as things change. I lent it to my mom so she could understand more how my days were going.
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4.0 out of 5 starsI can completely understand a day like the one you wrote about
By Diana T. on December 27, 2015
Format: Hardcover
First of all, thank you Theresa for writing an accessible book for people to read and learn about the day to day of nurse. As a nurse on a very busy tele floor, I can completely understand a day like the one you wrote about. Trying to discharge someone who has become a staple on your unit, while caring for a very sick, potentially unstable patient, all while trying to figure out an appropriate time to do a Corvert drip (pretty much my floor's version of that "scary" chemo-like infusion) can be overwhelming. Even for an experienced RN.

I agree with the comments I read saying that if you are an ICU nurse to avoid this book. Probably a good idea. The skill set that ICU nurses have to perfect is completely different from floor nurse. As is working in the ED. As a tele nurse who spends a ton of time floating to the ICU and the ED, I can at least partially attest to that. I also agree with the feedback in one of the comments about being concerned about the nursing judgement in some of the situations. But, it's a book. Some of the event sequences may have had to have been altered simply for continuity. Plus, think of the book like getting report. Even if someone gives a flawless and detailed report, nothing substitutes seeing the patient. Without being there on that day, we can never truly understand the decisions she made and why.

The writing style was accessible. I appreciated how she explained things, which I think will benefit non healthcare workers who read the book. From my experiences as a RN this is a fairly accurate reflection on the way the job goes. The days are busy and stressful. But that is the responsibility we take on with the job. That's the point of being in charge of keeping someone alive.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsIt was ok but not great.

I am a nurse and so maybe I was expecting a little more. I actually grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from Pitt with my BSN. It was ok but not great.

Published 2 days ago by Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Boring to much clinical stuff. NOT ENOUGH STORY!

Published 15 days ago by Stephanie Jackson
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent!!!

Published 16 days ago by jill
4.0 out of 5 starsOverall this is a great description of life as a nurse

This is a very gratifying read. I felt understood as a nurse. I felt compassion toward the patients whose needs for nursing care were portrayed realistically. Read more

Published 18 days ago by Kathy S
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

This is a wonderful book. Enjoying it immensely

Published 19 days ago by Grammy B
4.0 out of 5 starsMust read for everyone, including other healthcare professionals, to...

I read a comp copy of the book as I prepared to interview the author for a Q&A for a client. Theresa Brown is an oncology nurse and this book follows her through a 12-hour shift. Read more

Published 29 days ago by Marijke Vroomen-Durning
5.0 out of 5 starsA day in the life of a heme/onc nurse in a large teaching hospital

You get a good sense of what it's like to work as a bedside nurse during her 12 hour shift on a hematology oncology ward. Read more

Published 1 month ago by occasional shopper
5.0 out of 5 starsRespect. Author and Nurses

Very interesting view into the life of a nurse. The ability of the author to put to words that life is what makes this book extraordinary. Read more

Published 1 month ago by C. Cavena
5.0 out of 5 starsA must read by anyone interested in what goes on ...

A must read by anyone interested in what goes on in a 12 hour shift. Well written and enjoyable as well as educational.

Published 1 month ago by Mom of 8
5.0 out of 5 starsI was a nurse for 20 years and am now ...

I was a nurse for 20 years and am now facing cancer, chemo and a stem cell transplant. Very helpful and informative. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Mark Leszczynski

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