The Cost of Care

How Four Nurses Put Patients First in a Profit-Driven System

By: Theresa Brown

In the vein of Alexandra Robbins's The Teachers, this gripping, intimate story of four nurses in four different US healthcare centers shows that not all parts of the system are broken and offers a roadmap to find and give better care.

Theresa Brown worked as a oncology nurse for years before finally burning out—but instead of leaving the healthcare system behind entirely, she sought out places where it's actually working. She embedded with nurses in four key areas of care that cover the human lifespan—a maternity center in Pittsburgh, a primary care facility in Portland, an elder care home in Denver, and hospice service in Branford, Connecticut.

Taking us into the daily lives and exhausting—yet often rewarding—shifts of these four practitioners, Brown gives readers a rare window into what kinds of healthcare facilities are actually doing things well, taking care of patients, keeping things affordable, and supporting staff. When the system feels like it's crumbling around us, these places offer solutions that are possible to scale—all through the eyes of the people we know keep the whole thing running: nurses.