The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Stories of Life, Death and Hope

Watson, Christie

ISBN 10: 0385690266 / ISBN 13: 9780385690263

Verlag: Doubleday Canada, 2018

Beschreibung

Other than a mark on the text block, this is a tight and unmarked copy-" A moving, lyrical, beautifully written portrait of a nurse and the lives she has touched. Christie Watson spent twenty years working as a nurse, and in this intimate, poignant, and remarkably powerful book, she opens the doors of the hospital and shares its secrets. She takes us by her side down hospital corridors to visit the wards and the patients who are unforgettable. In the neonatal unit, premature babies fight for their lives, hovering at the very edge of survival, like tiny Emmanuel wrapped up in a sandwich bag. In the cancer wards, the nurses administer chemotherapy and, long after the medicine stops working, something more important--which Watson recognizes when her own father is dying of cancer. In the mental health unit, Derek attempts to take his life. In the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Charlotte loses her legs following meningitis, and the nurses wash the hair of a little girl to remove the smell of smoke from a house fire. The emergency room is overcrowded as ever, with waves of alcohol and drug-addicted patients, as well as patients like Betty, suffering chest pain, frail and alone. The stories of the geriatric ward--Gladys and older patients like her--show the plight of the most vulnerable members of our society. In the smallest of actions, the most undervalued of professions provides the most vital care and kindness. All of us will touch illness in our lifetime, and we will all depend upon the support and dignity that nurses offer us in our most vulnerable moments, yet these women and men who form the vanguard of our health service remain largely behind the scenes and publicly unsung. Through the stories in this book comes an understanding of what we must value most dearly--the urgency of care and compassion. In this age of fear, hate, and division, Christie Watson, an award-winning novelist as well as a nurse, has written a book that reminds us of all that we share, and of what it is to be human." About the Author: "CHRISTIE WATSON was a registered nurse for twenty years before writing full time. Her first novel, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, won the Costa First Novel Award, and her second novel, Where Women Are Kings, was also published to international critical acclaim. Her works have been translated into fifteen languages. She lives in London.".

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 21271

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Stories of Life, Death and Hope
• Verlag: Doubleday Canada
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 0385690266
• ISBN-13: 9780385690263
• Einband: Hardcover
• Zustand: Very Good

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe

A moving, lyrical, beautifully written portrait of a nurse and the lives she has touched.

Christie Watson spent twenty years working as a nurse, and in this intimate, poignant and remarkably powerful book, she opens the doors of the hospital and shares its secrets. She takes us by her side down hospital corridors to visit the wards and the patients who are unforgettable. In the neonatal unit, premature babies fight for their lives, hovering at the very edge of survival, like tiny Emmanuel wrapped up in a sandwich bag. In the cancer wards, the nurses administer chemotherapy and, long after the medicine stops working, something more important--which Watson recognizes when her own father is dying of cancer. In the mental health unit, Derek attempts to take his life. In the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Charlotte loses her legs following meningitis, and the nurses wash the hair of a little girl to remove the smell of smoke from a house fire. The emergency room is overcrowded as ever, with waves of alcohol and drug addicted patients, as well as patients like Betty, suffering chest pain, frail and alone. The stories of the geriatric ward--Gladys and older patients like her--show the plight of the most vulnerable members of our society.

In the smallest of actions, the most undervalued of professions provides the most vital care and kindness. All of us will touch illness in our lifetime, and we will all depend upon the support and dignity that nurses offer us in our most vulnerable moments; yet these women and men who form the vanguard of our health service remain largely behind the scenes and publicly unsung. Through the stories in this book comes an understanding of what we must value most dearly--the urgency of care and compassion.

In this age of fear, hate and division, Christie Watson, an award-winning novelist as well as a nurse, has written a book that reminds us of all that we share, and of what it is to be human.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

CHRISTIE WATSON was a registered nurse for twenty years before writing full time. Her first novel, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, won the Costa First Novel Award, and her second novel, Where Women Are Kings, was also published to international critical acclaim. Her works have been translated into fifteen languages. She lives in London.