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The Wisdom of Nurses: Stories of Grit From the Front Lines
From the hosts of the hit podcast The Gritty Nurse, stories of the challenges, heartbreak and humour of life on the front line
One of the enduring lessons of the pandemic has been the pivotal role that nursing plays in health care—vital work that isn’t widely understood or, sadly, appreciated. Sara Fung and Amie Archibald-Varley started the wildly popular The Gritty Nurse podcast to give voice to nurses all over the world, including more than 400,000 nurses in Canada. The authors have quickly become sought-after speakers and advocates for nurses and are called on regularly by the media to talk about a wide range of issues around the profession. In their first book, they take you to the front line of nursing to show the compassion, selflessness and dedication of professionals who not only give it all for their patients, but get up and do it over and over again.
One of the enduring lessons of the pandemic has been the pivotal role that nursing plays in health care—vital work that isn’t widely understood or, sadly, appreciated. Sara Fung and Amie Archibald-Varley started the wildly popular The Gritty Nurse podcast to give voice to nurses all over the world, including more than 400,000 nurses in Canada. The authors have quickly become sought-after speakers and advocates for nurses and are called on regularly by the media to talk about a wide range of issues around the profession. In their first book, they take you to the front line of nursing to show the compassion, selflessness and dedication of professionals who not only give it all for their patients, but get up and do it over and over again.
- GenresNonfictionAudiobook
281 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 2, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 3, 2024
Truly believe everyone should read this book! It’s insightful and inspiring. While highlighting the trials and triumphs of nursing, this book also does not shy away from the necessary critical reflection on the history of nursing and it’s role in colonialism and racism, from both a patient and professional experience. The Ontario nursing experience was also greatly appreciated and eye opening. Loved the layout of this book, and the changes in topic flowed nicely.
Proud daughter and granddaughter of nurses here and have long admired the profession 🥹. Nurses deserve so much.
Side note - loved the ghost stories thrown in there.
Proud daughter and granddaughter of nurses here and have long admired the profession 🥹. Nurses deserve so much.
Side note - loved the ghost stories thrown in there.
September 12, 2024
Loved this book! As a fellow healthcare worker, this book hit close to home (especially since it’s written by 2 Toronto nurses). I really enjoyed hearing all the stories - from the humorous ones to the more sentimental ones. I will definitely check out the podcast sometime as well.
August 10, 2024
I LOVED this. So many amazing stories, and should be required reading for anyone in healthcare. I’ve already started to pass it around my unit at work and everyone is so excited to read it. I loved the diverse stories of nurses making a difference, and it gave me a way better understanding of what it takes to be a nurse. So so great!
July 5, 2024
This is authentic storytelling from the frontlines of nursing. 37 years of nursing, my stories are the same. It is such an honourable profession, my only hope is that we somehow can get back to having time to do the basic nursing that is so meaningful to both the patients and the nurses.
The only thing that I did not experience in NICU is three hour sleep breaks. We were only permitted 1 hour breaks at a time and if your patient was unstable that often meant no breaks at all.
The only thing that I did not experience in NICU is three hour sleep breaks. We were only permitted 1 hour breaks at a time and if your patient was unstable that often meant no breaks at all.
October 30, 2024
Slow start first quarter. Then very good
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September 28, 2024Enjoyed this book as the stories paint nursing very much as it is in Canada. I'm a retired nurse and it brought back memories and raises issues that anyone who plans to be unhealthy should realize. Chapters on travel nurses experiences were also interesting. Skip the ghost story chapters. It made me doubt the authors claim that she views life from a science base! Luckily they are a small part of the book.
October 6, 2024
So many good stories, most from Canadian nurses, covering a wide spectrum of the nursing world.
July 9, 2024
I really enjoyed this book! The Wisdom of Nurses by Amie Archibald-Varley and Sara Fung was a collection of stories and essays on a variety of topics related to nursing in North America. I appreciated the balance of memoir style writing by the authors about their own experiences and narrative writing about other nurses' experiences. Many topics were covered, from challenges working with colleagues, to inefficient procedures, to mental health and burnout and much more, the information was both anecdotal and informational giving great insight into the profession that can be enjoyed by people who know the field and also outsiders like me who are just interested in learning more.
I loved that both of the authors were Canadian and could give context from a Canadian perspective, but also that some of the other nurses discussed in the book were American so there was an opportunity to see the similarities and differences between the countries. I also loved that both authors were POC and able to share their perspectives. The fact that both authors also worked in Labour & Delivery and Post-Partum also allowed them to comment on women's reproductive rights which I always find really important and valuable. Finally, I liked the little interludes about famous or little-known but worthy nurses and their contributions to the field. I learned a lot and also really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Harper Collins Canada for giving me the chance to read and review this excellent book!
I loved that both of the authors were Canadian and could give context from a Canadian perspective, but also that some of the other nurses discussed in the book were American so there was an opportunity to see the similarities and differences between the countries. I also loved that both authors were POC and able to share their perspectives. The fact that both authors also worked in Labour & Delivery and Post-Partum also allowed them to comment on women's reproductive rights which I always find really important and valuable. Finally, I liked the little interludes about famous or little-known but worthy nurses and their contributions to the field. I learned a lot and also really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Harper Collins Canada for giving me the chance to read and review this excellent book!
November 9, 2024
I gave this 4 stars because the title of the book is a bit inaccurate. Some nurses are judgemental and bullying and they mention this in the book. nurses have never been credited for what they actually do and the reason our health care system in Canada is going down the drain is the the elitism of who is who and what they do. Everyone in a system needs to be credited with what they do and that includes all the people who work in a hospital or nursing home and make it a good atmosphere for the poor people suffering from a form of ill health who are there. Whenever a system becomes top down it fails!
May 15, 2024
This is one of those I was anticipating for awhile. I follow these nurses on social media. This work in this book was a great reflection of the work they've been doing. I had a great respect for what nurses do before but reading this just took it to a new level. Whether your a nurse or not and you just want to know what nurses do and how complex the work is I highly recommend reading this. At a time where nurses are badly misunderstood this book goes along to clearing those misunderstandings up.
August 18, 2024
A bit slow and some unexpected emphasis on things like ghost stories didn’t seem to fit, but overall and interesting and provoking read. Nursing is such a broad and diverse line of work, making it difficult to pull out the wisdom from a handful of stories. I was also expecting it to be written more explicitly about historical Nurse’s stories and perspectives, bringing awareness to nurses not named Flo. Unfortunately they were just short one page info sheets on a handful of nurses. It took a while to finally finish this read so there was some discontinuity but altogether an enjoyable read.
September 15, 2024
It is a witty and insightful book about nurses and the healthcare system, particularly in Canada. The book features stories from nurses with various backgrounds who persevered to advance in their careers despite numerous obstacles. It would make a lovely gift for any nurse in your life!
April 30, 2024
Interesting perspectives and insight from nurses working in various settings such as obgyn, peds, community, travel nursing, etc
June 24, 2024
Much variety in stories, many real perspectives. A celebration of nurses and a call to action for improving conditions for patients and staff.
September 6, 2024
As a retired critical care nurse, I was interested in reading nurses' experiences in other areas of health care. The chapters on icu and working night shifts were spot on!
September 30, 2024
Really good stories - would have appreciated a) more stories and b) a slightly better flow. But super important to share this wisdom and I'd love to read more!
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October 19, 2024DNF
October 27, 2024
Great stories from health Care's front lines, but I could have done without the ghost stories.
November 17, 2024
We need more books (and podcasts) like this to show people the true beauty but also the ugly side of our profession.
June 12, 2024
An interesting story from two Canadian RN's, who started creating a podcast prior to covid, about what nursing and the health care world is really like, and how nursing can be a rich and varied career. It's a political work about the positives and restrictions in current practices and environments, which we encourage wide reading by other practitioners of the health care team and administrators, as well as politicians. We can only hope it will improve the work and working world for recruitment and retention of RN's. Much of the clinical practice of the two main authors has been in the labour/delivery/postpartum arena, both community and acute care, over the past 20 years, and the stories reflect that context.
Note: I am reading the softcover version of the book. This version not shown so far on GR.
Note: I am reading the softcover version of the book. This version not shown so far on GR.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews