The Shift

An engrossing human drama . . . The Shift is one nurse's story, but it contains elements of every nurse's experience." The Wall Street Journal 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 on a busy teaching hospital s cancer ward. In the span of twelve hours, lives can be lost, life-altering treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. Unfolding in real time under the watchful eyes of this dedicated professional and insightful chronicler of events The Shift gives 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 and humanity.

“" The Shift takes an intimate look at the practice of modern medicine from the point of view of a professional on duty at the patient's bedside. It's an engrossing human drama composed of interlocking stories of patients and their families, doctors and nurses, aides, chaplains, social workers, and others who take care of sick people in a modern-day hospital. The Shift is one nurse's story, but it contains elements of every nurse's experience." -Wall Street Journal "Brown does an excellent job of taking us moment by moment through her day -- meeting the patients (one difficult, one frail, one possibly dying, one about to go home); the paperwork (endless); the fail-safe procedures (also endless, but clearly important); the workarounds (not always kosher, but sometimes the only way to get things done). Brown...is skillful at keeping the narrative flowing. The reader feels her affection and deep sense of responsibility for her patients, even the aggravating ones, and her frustration over not being able to give them each the attention she believes they need." - Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Theresa Brown's The Shift ... should be required reading for all incoming medical and nursing students -- or anyone who is a patient or visitor in a hospital. ...her story is riveting in the exacting way she recounts the way her day unfolds." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "This riveting account of a day in the life of a highly competent and compassionate but overtaxed bedside nurse provides an up-close, insider's view from the perspective of one of the worker bees of the medical world. It raises important questions about staffing, shift lengths, various protocols, and the role of touch, empathy, and record keeping in healthcare. If nothing else, The Shift will leave you with a better understanding of why your hospital call button doesn't always bring a nurse running as quickly as you'd wish. ...the living, breathing heart of Brown's book lies in her vivid, composite profiles of the handful of patients (disguised for privacy) who come under her watch on the day in question, and her enormous concern for them." - Barnes & Noble 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. Brown...juggles the fears, hopes, and realities of a 12-hour shift in a typical urban hospital with remarkable insight and unflagging care. Her memoir is a must-read...." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Anyone who wants to know what it's like to be a nurse in a hospital today should read this book. Patients, families, and non-nurse colleagues tend to see nurses as ever-present yet often in the background, quietly moving from room to room, attending to patients, and distributing medications or charting at computers. But what they don't understand about what nurses do is what Brown so deftly describes--the cognitive multitasking and constant reordering of priorities that occur in the course of one shift as Brown manages the needs of four very different patients (she was working in a stem cell transplant unit at the time); completes admissions and discharges; and communicates with families, colleagues, and administrators. I hope the general public reads this book, too. It's time for consumers to see past the traditional stereotype in which nurses are only physicians' helpers, and see instead the essential role that nurses play in ensuring quality and safety in health care." -AJN (American Journal of Nursing) / Off the Charts”

"An engrossing human drama . . . The Shift is one nurse's story, but it contains elements of every nurse's experience." -The Wall Street Journal

"This riveting account of a day in the life of a highly competent and compassionate but overtaxed bedside nurse provides an up-close, insider's view from the perspective of one of the worker bees of the medical world. It raises important questions about staffing, shift lengths, various protocols, and the role of touch, empathy, and record keeping in healthcare . . . The living, breathing heart of Brown's book lies in her vivid, composite profiles of the handful of patients (disguised for privacy) who come under her watch on the day in question, and her enormous concern for them." -The Barnes Noble Review

"The Shift . . . should be required reading for all incoming medical and nursing students--or anyone who is a patient or visitor in a hospital . . . Her story is riveting in the exacting way she recounts the way her day unfolds." -Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Brown does an excellent job of taking us moment by moment through her day . . . keeping the narrative flowing. The reader feels her affection and deep sense of responsibility for her patients." -Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"What makes Brown's story shine are the touching and sometimes bizarre moments that make real life in a hospital stranger than fiction . . . Brown is able to make her case from the strongest possible vantage point: inside the hospital, where she is doing the work so few of us have the guts to do." -The Boston Globe

"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. Brown . . . juggles the fears, hopes, and realities of a 12-hour shift in a typical urban hospital with remarkable insight and unflagging care. Her memoir is a must-read." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Theresa Brown, RN, author of the New York Times bestseller The Shift, has been a contributor to the New York Times. Her writing appears on CNN.com and in the American Journal of Nursing, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She has been a guest on MSNBC Live and NPR s Fresh Air. Her first book was Critical Care, and during what she calls her past life, she received a PhD in English from the University of Chicago. She lectures nationally and internationally on issues related to nursing, health care, and end of life.This author is represented by the Hachette Speakers Bureau.

"A wonderfully told story of the life-and-death reality of a hospital . . . . . . Theresa Brown helps us understand the dramas and the dangers as the beautifully evocative stories of nurses and doctors, patients and family members, overlap and entwine during a twelve-hour shift." --Perri Klass, MD, author of Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor 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 on a busy teaching hospital's cancer ward. In the span of twelve hours, lives can be lost, life-altering treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. Unfolding in real time--under the watchful eyes of this dedicated professional and insightful chronicler of events-- The Shift gives 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 and humanity. "Meticulous, absorbing . . . Stands out for its honesty, clarity, and heart. [Brown] juggles the fears, hopes, and realities of a twelve-hour shift in a typical urban hospital with remarkable insight and unflagging care. Her memoir is a must-read." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Riveting . . . Should be required reading for all incoming medical and nursing students--or anyone who is a patient or visitor in a hospital." --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "What makes Brown's story shine are the touching and sometimes bizarre moments that make real life in a hospital stranger than fiction." --The Boston Globe "An empathetic and absorbing narrative as riveting as a TV drama." --Kirkus Reviews "Captures perfectly [a nurse's] central role in any patient's life." --Susan Love, MD, author of Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book

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