The Shift, Theresa Brown RN
The Shift, Theresa Brown RN
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The Shift
One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives

Author: Theresa Brown RN

Narrator: Tavia Gilbert

Unabridged: 7 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/05/2016

Synopsis

In a book as eye-opening as it is riveting, practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day in a hospital’s cancer ward. In the span of twelve hours, lives can be lost, life-altering medical treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. In Brown’s skilled hands—as both a dedicated nurse and an insightful chronicler of events—we are given an unprecedented view into the individual struggles as well as the larger truths about medicine in this country. By shift’s end, we have witnessed something profound about hope, healing, and humanity.Every day, Theresa Brown holds patients’ lives in her hands. On this day there are four: Mr. Hampton, a patient with lymphoma to whom Brown is charged with administering a powerful drug that could cure him—or kill him; Sheila, who may have been dangerously misdiagnosed; Candace, a returning patient who arrives (perhaps advisedly) with her own disinfectant wipes, cleansing rituals, and demands; and Dorothy, who after six weeks in the hospital may finally go home. Prioritizing and ministering to their needs takes the kind of skill, sensitivity, and, yes, humor that enable a nurse to be a patient’s most ardent advocate in a medical system marked by heartbreaking dysfunction as well as miraculous success.

About Theresa Brown RN

Theresa Brown works as a clinical nurse. Her regular column appears on the New York Times opinion pages as well as on the Times Opinionator blog. She has also been a contributor to the popular Well section of that paper and writes for CNN.com and other national media. Brown received her BSN from the University of Pittsburgh and, during what she calls her past life, a PhD in English from the University of Chicago. Before becoming a nurse, she taught English at Tufts University. Today her focus is medical oncology and end-of-life issues. She lectures nationally, is a board member of the Center for Health, Media, and Policy at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing at the City University of New York’s Hunter College. Brown was a panelist for TEDMED’s Great Challenges of Health and Medicine initiative and is also involved in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Flip the Clinic initiative and an advisory board member for Scrubs magazine. She lives with her husband and three children in Pennsylvania.

About Tavia Gilbert

Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Phoenix on February 10, 2023

I have enjoyed listening to The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives by Theresa Brown, which is narrated beautifully. It was a page-turner for me. An intense and captured story about cancer patients and the routine of the night shift. Great book......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on September 27, 2016

As a nurse I had high expectations for this book. I did not find it very interesting. It went into minute detail where I did not need any explanation whatsoever. This book is only a very small window into part of what a nurse’s day could be like. Nurses go without eating when they should eat. They g......more

Goodreads review by Laura on June 04, 2017

A valuable insight into the rollercoaster career of nursing. I enjoyed this medical memoir detailing oncology nurse Teresa over the course of just one shift, the highs and lows. As a nurse myself, albeit across the pond, it was interesting to see how care patterns differ and how patients interact wi......more

Goodreads review by Jim on April 22, 2017

3.5 stars, but rounded up because it was a great look at a day in the life of a nurse. There was just too much repetition & nurses were shined to perfection. She never lost her empathy nor did any of the staff have a bad moment. Not unexpected when she's working in the field & writing about her coll......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on October 19, 2015

Somebody, or the Internet, whichever, told me about this book. But...it is not very good. It is hard to imagine how a book about a hospital, where there are millions of life or death decisions made every day, could be boring. It is also hard to imagine that a book written by a NYT columnist could be......more

Quotes

“An engrossing human drama composed of interlocking stories of patients and their families, doctors and nurses, aides, chaplains, social workers, and others.”

Wall Street Journal

“What makes Brown’s story shine are the touching and sometimes bizarre moments that make real life in a hospital stranger than fiction.”

Boston Globe

“Brown does an excellent job of taking us moment by moment through her day.”

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Should be required reading for all incoming medical and nursing students.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Riveting…Raises important questions about staffing, shift lengths, various protocols, and the role of touch, empathy, and record keeping in health care.”

Barnes & Noble, editorial review

“This meticulous, absorbing shift-in-the-life account of one nurse’s day on a cancer ward stands out for its honesty, clarity, and heart.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Brown’s background as a university English professor is evident in her prose…Nursing students and professionals will appreciate the humor and will understand the situations involved.”

Library Journal

“An empathetic and absorbing narrative as riveting as a TV drama.”

Kirkus Reviews

Awards

  • Audible.com Bestseller
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