Critical Care

A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between

By: Theresa Brown

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo

In her former career as an English professor, Theresa Brown had been shielded from the harsh reality of death. That all changed the day she decided to become an oncology nurse. In Critical Care, Theresa writes powerfully and honestly about her first year on the hospital floor. With great compassion and a disarming sense of humor, she shares the trials and triumphs of her patients and comes to realize that caring for a patient means much more than simply treating a disease. Deeply moving and, at times, sobering, Critical Care sheds light on the issues of mortality and meaning in our lives.

©2010 Theresa Brown (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"What Theresa Brown has managed to do with [ Critical Care] is precisely what the best of nurses do with their patients – focus always on the heart of what matters. I loved this book." (Pauline Chen, M.D., author of Final Exam)

Outstanding Writing by an Outstanding Human Being

This book is rich in not only truth but heart and soul surrounding the human spirit. I am a nursing student finally going for the RN program as I knew at age 7 I wanted to be a nurse. This book gave me insight into how challenging nursing can be but also intimate and special changing us in a growing sense. Thank you for all your grace you showed to your patients Theresa and for being an incredible but also loving nurse.

Great book if interested in the inpatient nurse experience

The only thing bothersome to me is the narrator pronounces words that aren’t in “D” with a hard “T” sound. For instance David, she pronounces as “DaviT.” This is irritating, but not enough to stop me from recommending the book. I much enjoyed the book.

Excellent all the way around!

I read this book years ago and it was a real eye opener. I listened to it again as I have been a caretaker several times since then and I really appreciate the care given by the selfless nurses. The author is truly an example of how all nurses should treat their patient's.

Awesome book!

Recommend it! Very nice stories, super engaging!!! An author simply takes you to the hospital and describes everything in detail, loved it!

A revealing insight into a chemo nurse perspective

Having been a cancer patient and chemo recipient myself I found this book answering many of the questions I had about my angel nurses and their side of my treatment. All of my nurses, from the time of my diagnosis, surgery and chemo were kind, caring and supportive. This book was well written and the narrator was excellent. I love books written in the first person speaking the truth of their experiences and feelings of the events from their own perspective. I couldn't put it down.