First published 2015
Alexandra Robbins follows four nurses through twelve months inside the medical profession that saves lives daily while destroying those who practice it. These women face controlled chaos on hospital floors where colleagues devour newcomers and administrators treat staff as expendables. Violence erupts from patients and peers alike. Doctors bully with impunity. The brightest nurses turn to drugs as escape from trauma that television never shows. Behind sterile walls, hazing rituals break down the vulnerable while sexual dynamics complicate already strained relationships. Each nurse battles not just medical emergencies but an epidemic of workplace abuse that lurks in every shift. Robbins exposes how the healthcare system chews up the very people it depends on most. This year reveals the true cost of caring in a profession where PTSD runs rampant and sisterhood becomes both salvation and weapon. The result shows what happens when those trained to heal must first survive their own workplace.
Genres: medical, sociology, non-fiction, nursing
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: survival, workplace
431 pages · Kindle Edition · Workman Publishing Company
Content warnings: abuse, anxiety, depression, medical-trauma, mental-illness, violence