Healing

When a Nurse Becomes a Patient

By: Theresa Brown

Narrated by: Abby Craden

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Shift comes a frank look at navigating the world of healthcare as a cancer nurse becomes a patient and experiences the system from the other side.​

Despite her training and years of experience as an oncology and hospice nurse, Brown finds it difficult to navigate the medical maze from the other side of the bed. Why is she so often left in the dark about procedures and treatments? Why is she expected to research her own best treatment options? Why is there so much red tape? At times she’s mad at herself for not speaking up and asking for what she needs but knows that being a “difficult” patient could mean she gets worse care.

Of the almost four million women in this country living with breast cancer, many have had, like Brown, a treatable form of the disease. Both unnerving and extremely relatable, her experience shows us how our for-profit health care industry “cures” us but at the same time leaves so many of us feeling alienated and uncared for. As she did so brilliantly in her New York Times bestseller, The Shift, Brown relays the unforgettable details of her daily life—the needles, the chemo drugs, the rubber gloves, the bureaucratic frustrations—but this time from her new perch as a patient, looking back at some of her own cases and considering what she didn’t know then about the warping effects of fear and the healing virtues of compassion. “People failed me when I was a patient and I failed patients when working as a nurse. I see that now,” she writes.

Healing is must-read for all of us who have tried to find healing through our health-care system.

Enlightening

This book was very well written. Many of us knows a bit of what goes on in the medical community. However, the author enlightened me in a way I’ve never heard about. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is going through breast cancer treatment or any serious medical issues for that matter. Illness is not something people want to talk about. However, sometimes it’s necessary. Theresa Brown is an excellent writer.

Feelings expressed similar to mine

I was fortunate when I discovered my breast cancer. I was already seeing the oncologist for colon cancer. I never had to wait for results or many of the things the author described. Thanks for detailing your experience. Every experience adds perspective. Happy you are in remission!

Short but informative

This needs to be required reading for everyone at each level in the medical field.