A Nurse's Story: LIFE, DEATH, AND IN-BETWEEN IN AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT - Hardcover

Shalof, Tilda

 
9780771080869: A Nurse's Story: LIFE, DEATH, AND IN-BETWEEN IN AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0771080867 ISBN 13: 9780771080869
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

The team of nurses that Tilda Shalof found herself working with in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a big-city hospital was known as “Laura’s Line.” They were a bit wild: smart, funny, disrespectful of authority, but also caring and incredibly committed to their jobs. Laura set the tone with her quick remarks. Frances, from Newfoundland, was famous for her improvised recipes. Justine, the union rep, wore t-shirts emblazoned with defiant slogans, like “Nurses Care But It’s Not in the Budget.” Shalof was the one who had been to university. The others accused her of being “sooo sensitive.”

They depended upon one another. Working in the ICU was both emotionally grueling and physically exhausting. Many patients, quite simply, were dying, and the staff strove mightily to prolong their lives. With their skill, dedication, and the resources of modern science, they sometimes were almost too successful. Doctors and nurses alike wondered if what they did for terminally-ill patients was not, in some cases, too extreme. A number of patients were admitted when it was too late even for heroic measures. A boy struck down by a cerebral aneurysm in the middle of a little-league hockey game. A woman rescued – too late – from a burning house. It all took its toll on the staff.

And yet, on good days, they thrived on what they did. Shalof describes a colleague who is managing a “crashing” patient: “I looked at her. Nicky was flushed with excitement. She was doing five different things at the same time, planning ahead for another five. She was totally focused, in her element, in control, completely at home with the chaos. There was a huge smile on her face. Nurses like to fix things. If they can.”

Shalof, a veteran ICU nurse, reveals what it is really like to work behind the closed hospital curtains. The drama, the sardonic humour, the grinding workload, the cheerful camaraderie, the big issues and the small, all are brought vividly to life in this remarkable book.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

An intensive care unit nurse with twenty years of experience in Israel and Canada, Tilda Shalof now lives in Toronto.

From the Inside Flap

The team of nurses that Tilda Shalof found herself working with in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a big-city hospital was known as Laura s Line. They were a bit wild: smart, funny, disrespectful of authority, but also caring and incredibly committed to their jobs. Laura set the tone with her quick remarks. Frances, from Newfoundland, was famous for her improvised recipes. Justine, the union rep, wore t-shirts emblazoned with defiant slogans, like Nurses Care But It s Not in the Budget. Shalof was the one who had been to university. The others accused her of being sooo sensitive.

They depended upon one another. Working in the ICU was both emotionally grueling and physically exhausting. Many patients, quite simply, were dying, and the staff strove mightily to prolong their lives. With their skill, dedication, and the resources of modern science, they sometimes were almost too successful. Doctors and nurses alike wondered if what they did for terminally-ill patients was not, in some cases, too extreme. A number of patients were admitted when it was too late even for heroic measures. A boy struck down by a cerebral aneurysm in the middle of a little-league hockey game. A woman rescued too late from a burning house. It all took its toll on the staff.

And yet, on good days, they thrived on what they did. Shalof describes a colleague who is managing a crashing patient: I looked at her. Nicky was flushed with excitement. She was doing five different things at the same time, planning ahead for another five. She was totally focused, in her element, in control, completely at home with the chaos. There was a huge smile on her face. Nurses like to fix things. If they can.

Shalof, a veteran ICU nurse, reveals what it is really like to work behind the closed hospital curtains. The drama, the sardonic humour, the grinding workload, the cheerful camaraderie, the big issues and the small, all are brought vividly to life in this remarkable book.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
McClelland & Stewart Ltd
Publication date
2004
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0771080867
ISBN 13 
9780771080869
Binding
Hardcover
Edition number
1
Number of pages
337

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780771080876: A Nurse's Story: Life, Death and In-Between in an Intensive Care Unit

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0771080875 ISBN 13:  9780771080876
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart Inc., 2005
Softcover