Product Description

This is a nurse's story unlike any other, because Echo Heron is a very special nurse. Dedicated to healing and helping in the harshest environments, she spent ten years in emergency rooms and intensive care units. Her story is unique, penetrating, and unforgettable. Her story is real.

"Compelling reading."

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #207221 in Books
• Published on: 1988-05-12
• Released on: 1988-05-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780804102513
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
To be forced to prolong the life of a hopelessly ill, sometimes brain-dead patient is the most draining nursing situation, stresses Heron, an RN who recounts in dramatic detail her training and 10 years in the emergency and acute coronary care units of a San Francisco Bay Area hospital. The characters and lives of patientssome of them composite portraitsare fleshed out with melodramtic dialogue and novelistic touches, but the descriptions of the various cases, the constant state of crisis pervading the emergency room and the tense atmosphere of the acute care unit ring true. Most gripping is Heron's account of her own son's brush with death, and her burnout from physical and emotional exhaustionhealed by a return to her roots in Upstate New York and a laying of childhood ghosts. Literary Guild and Doubleday book clubs selections.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
This is a nurse's story unlike any other, because Echo Heron is a very special nurse. Dedicated to healing and helping in the harshest environments, she spent ten years in emergency rooms and intensive care units. Her story is unique, penetrating, and unforgettable. Her story is real.
"Compelling reading."
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Customer Reviews

You don't have to be a nurse to enjoy this book
This book is funny, sad, frightening, and at times unbelievable. As a nurse (and I also read it the first time while in nursing school) I know that every story in this book is absolutely true. I think anyone wanting an inside look into hospitals will find this enjoyable and informative. It proves that in medicine, truth is much stranger--and far more interesting--than fiction. Of the many authors whose books I have enjoyed, Echo Heron is the one I would most like to meet. From the intimate look she gives us into her life, it is easy to tell that this is a bright, funny, and incredibly caring woman.

Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse
This book is true life. I have been a nurse for many years and have seen so many of the same things. It touched my heart and warmed my soul. Reminded me of myself and why I became a nurse! A must read for all nurses new and seasoned!!

A great read
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in entering a medical profession. This book will give the reader an intimate view into the reality of working in a hospital where life and death decisions are made. I'm in nursing school, and reading this book has affirmed my decision to become a nurse.

Her style is a bit melodramatic, and she does tend to romanticize certain events. Such as the boy who comes in to say good-bye to his grandfather--she describes how much he looked up to him, etc, when in reality she knows nothing of their relationship, or even what the man was like in life. But it's easy to overlook these (if you want!), because the meat of the book is about what it's like to take care of people in crisis. I look forward to reading more of her books.