TITLE: The
Night Shift
AUTHOR: Brian
Goldman
GENRE: non-fiction
WHERE I GOT IT: library borrow
DATE
READ: May 10 to May 28, 2013
ABOUT BLURB: Dr. Brian Goldman shares his experiences while working the night shift in busy Mount Sinai hospital in downtown Toronto.
MY THOUGHTS:
This is another one of those
books that I put on hold at the library on a whim because it looked
interesting. I didn't realize that after it became available to check
out from said library, I would have already have been rushed to the
hospital in the middle of the night by my husband. This left me very
nervous to even read the book because I was afraid of reading
anything that resembled what happened to me and at the time I had NO
idea why it happened. (My heart went into atrial fibrillation for the
second time in 5 years and it is not to common for a young healthy
person to experience that!) Of course my curiosity got the better of
me and I slowly started reading it anyways. There were a few parts
where I almost stopped because it was talking about a patient with
heart problems. I was convinced that regardless of my age there was
something wrong with my heart and reading anything to do with people
in the ER with heart problems really made my anxiety fly sky high.
I however, still
kept reading and found it rather interesting. I knew of course that
life in the ER is nothing like the TV shows but I never realized just
how hectic it could be. I did find it frustrating at times though
because Dr. Goldman would start talking about one patient then leave
you hanging while he told stories about similar or related topics
before going back to the original story at the end of the chapter.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Although
Dr. Goldman does talk in some medical terms and about certain
medications that I have never heard of, he does give a good
impression of what working in a ER is like. I know it's something I
could never do and I commend anyone that does. I guess I can
understand now sometimes when nurses or doctors come across as
indifferent. It's probably either work fatigue or their only defence
against getting too emotionally involved with each patience
situation. I would imagine working the long hours in an ER, would be
emotionally draining after awhile.
(Also in case
anyone is wondering after all the tests I have had done, my heart is
totally healthy and they found nothing wrong with me. The specialist
determined because of what I was doing both times it happened
(chugging cold water and trying to get some burbs out) that I am one
of the lucky few that people in this world that could experience
atrial fibrillation due to either food, liquid, or gas disturbing my
esophagus. Lucky me :(. )
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
