3.75 stars

I’ve enjoyed other books by Alexandra Robbin’s so decided to give THE NURSES a try. In it, she documents the lives of four nurses who live in the same metro area and work in emergency rooms. She shares the joys and triumphs they experience as well as the abuse they receive from other medical professionals and patients and shows that nurses are the work horses of the medical system.

Anyone who has experienced a hospital knows it’s the nurses who are the backbone of the medical care so that wasn’t news to me. I was surprised at some of the abuse nurses put up with, especially from other medical professionals. I found THE NURSES to be engaging but wish Robbins had included nurses who work in other areas.

3.5 stars. This book left much to be wanted with the several story lines going on. I never really straightened out who was who in these stories because they were mixed few and far between the many "research" chapters. As a nurse myself, I learned many of the research aspects of this book in nursing school and I wanted this book more for the story aspect. A bit of a disappointment but still a good read.

This review originally appeared on my blog at www.gimmethatbook.com.

Thanks to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alexandra Robbins is familiar with bringing the reader into a closed society; she is the author of Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. Her research is exhaustive, thorough and massive. For THE NURSES, she has interviewed hundreds of nursing professionals, active and retired, along with intensive reading of healthcare related books.

The plot is exactly as described–we are following the stories of four nurses as they navigate their way through their workdays at different hospitals. The workplaces are vastly different; one is in a low income area and very dangerous, another is in a better area but understaffed, yet another employs a staff that is closeminded and cliquey. Each chapter covers a different subject, such as interpersonal difficulties, healthcare in general, the physical danger to nurses, availability of loose drugs and therefore the potential to become hooked, and the doctor’s and healthcare industry’s attitude towards nurses in general.

As I read, I simply could not believe what I was seeing. My perception of nursing changed 180 degrees as I made my way through the book. Discard your vision of a glamorous, overpaid, angel in white. Be prepared to hear about nurses getting fired for following doctor’s orders, drunk patients wreaking havoc and causing serious permanent injury, staff surfing the Internet and being “too busy” to give aid to their coworkers, and the overwhelming, constant burden of having too many patients under your care.

The more I read, the less I want to be anywhere near a hospital.

Gore and lengthy descriptions of medical procedures are not a part of this book. Rather, there are recountings of conversations, incidents, and situations that these nurses found themselves dealing with on a daily basis. The book is detailed and can be a bit long winded, just a bit, especially with some of the statistics that seem to go on for a while, but they are relevant and serve to educate the reader.

I’m interested to see what the nursing community has to say about this book–will there be an outpouring of agreement, or is Robbins sensationalizing the truth? Either way, THE NURSES is well written and thrusts you into a world most of us don’t normally see. Most of us probably aren’t even aware that this shady underbelly of medicine exists. Kudos to Robbins for bringing it to the forefront.

3.5 stars: at times very interesting and at times very dry. I didn't love how the book was organized...it seemed like there was a lot of repetition. My favorite part were the vignettes from the nurses and wish there had been more, possibly from nurses who worked in areas other than the ED. I did appreciate the call to action at the end.

This is a nonfiction book about the medical industry as seen through the eyes of the nurses who work in it. The author, Alexandra Robbins, chose four Registered Nurses and followed them throughout their day to day lives for about a year as they worked in four hospitals. Some of these four actually interacted with each other, and a couple I don't think ever met each other. All four worked at ERs though various other medical wards, clinics, and locations are mentioned. Robbins addresses specific topics in each chapter, such as hazing or bullying of nurses by other nurses, coping tactics, behind the scenes secrets of the nurses, and the problematic relationship between nurses and doctors. She typically used at least two to all four of the nurses' points of view to highlight a given area, such as the preferential treatment that hospitals dole out to doctors but then take away from nurses. In one example, a hospital doled out free parking passes to doctors and to the techs, but forced the nurses to pay for the same parking pass. IIRC, this same hospital gave free uniforms to doctors and techs but then wanted the nurses to pay for their uniforms. After using the nurses' POV, the author herself provides a short essay on the given topic for that particular chapter and how hospitals are making things worse for the nurses or attempting to make things better for them.

I liked this book. I've worked with many RN's throughout my career (as a social worker) and I still found this fresh and informative without being dry or dull. This would be a good book for anyone who is maybe considering going to nursing school or is just on the fence. It has real RNs in real life scenarios.

I enjoyed the stories shared in this and all the research provided on nursing issues. However, I felt that the way research was discussed came from a biased point of view, and at times it was too much. I wanted to read more about the nurses' personal experiences and less about supportive research. The quotes at the end were everything though, and I can't wait to be a nurse! - Dec 2018!!

3.5 stars. Full review when I have time.

Also, it's Physician Assistant, NOT "Physician's Assistant" despite what the author put down in the early chapters.

Love this book! It doesn't shy away from the harsh stuff but it doesn't get too preachy either.

A little soap opera-ish for non fiction, but still interesting for someone not in the medical field.