I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse

This collection of true narratives reflects the dynamism and diversity of nurses, who provide the first vital line of patient care. Here, nurses remember their first “sticks,” first births, and first deaths, and reflect on what gets them though long, demanding shifts, and keeps them in the profession. The stories reveal many voices from nurses at different stages of their careers: One nurse-in-training longs to be trusted with more “important” procedures, while another questions her ability to care for nursing home residents. An efficient young emergency room nurse finds his life and career irrevocably changed by a car accident. A nurse practitioner wonders whether she has violated professional boundaries in her care for a homeless man with AIDS, and a home care case manager is the sole attendee at a funeral for one of her patients. What connects these stories is the passion and strength of the writers, who struggle against burnout and bureaucracy to serve their patients with skill, empathy, and strength.

• The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives
• Oh Sh*t, I Almost Killed You! A Little Book of Big Things Nursing School Forgot to Teach You
• Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between
• Becoming Nursey: From Code Blues to Code Browns, How to Care for Your Patients and Yourself
• Mindscapes: Critical Reading Skills and Strategies
• Caring Matters Most
• The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital
• First Year Nurse: Wisdom, Warnings, and What I Wish I'd Known My First 100 Days on the Job
• Nursing School Thrive Guide
• Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, & Management