The Courage to Care
Nurses, Families and Hope
Published on 10. June 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-5291-1107-1 (ISBN)
Description
'An inspiring book for our challenging times' Olivia Coleman
Nurses have never been more important.
We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all.
In The Courage to Care bestselling author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses' work:
- A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression
- A teen with stab wounds is treated by the critical-care team; his school nurse visits and he drops the bravado
- A pregnant woman loses frightening amounts of blood following a car accident; it is a military nurse who synchronises the emergency department into immaculate order and focus.
Christie makes a further discovery: that, time and again, it is patients and their families - including her own - who show exceptional strength in the most challenging times. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other's suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care.
'Let's be thankful for wonderful nurses - and writers - like Christie Watson' Jacqueline Wilson
'Christie Watson writes with the fullness of her heart to give us insight into the world of patients and nursing, inspiring us to recognise it is how we treat people, how we speak and respond to them, as well as what we do, that heals' Julia Samuel
Nurses have never been more important.
We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all.
In The Courage to Care bestselling author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses' work:
- A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression
- A teen with stab wounds is treated by the critical-care team; his school nurse visits and he drops the bravado
- A pregnant woman loses frightening amounts of blood following a car accident; it is a military nurse who synchronises the emergency department into immaculate order and focus.
Christie makes a further discovery: that, time and again, it is patients and their families - including her own - who show exceptional strength in the most challenging times. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other's suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care.
'Let's be thankful for wonderful nurses - and writers - like Christie Watson' Jacqueline Wilson
'Christie Watson writes with the fullness of her heart to give us insight into the world of patients and nursing, inspiring us to recognise it is how we treat people, how we speak and respond to them, as well as what we do, that heals' Julia Samuel
Reviews / Votes
The handbook for compassion... a must-read book -- Chris Evans She repeatedly finds the beam of light in the darkest rooms... Watson is a terrific guide to the gritty reality of hospital life... We have never needed their [nurses'] expertise more than we do now -- Helen Brown * Daily Telegraph * Now more than ever, nurses are on our minds and in our hearts. Christie writes with beauty and compassion about how they do their jobs. When I wasn't crying, I was marvelling -- Tracy Chevalier, author of A Single Thread Magnificent... timely and resonant... In these unprecedented times, Watson challenges the rest of us to be more like nurses and to find the courage to care, no matter who is in need -- Caroline Sanderson * Sunday Express * An inspiring book for our challenging times. It's never been more important to care for one another and the amazing Christie Watson shows us the way -- Olivia Colman Watson writes with wry humour and a cheerful, conversational tone, but the world of care she describes - mental health wards, dying children or neglected elderly patients - is often hard to bear... [The Courage to Care] is a love letter to her profession; her admiration for her colleagues shines through every story -- Stephanie Merritt * Observer * In this timely read, Watson, a former nurse who returned to work in critical care during the coronavirus peak, tells stories both heart-in-mouth and humbling. She reveals the extraordinary, beyond-the-call-of-duty work that nurses do, and the bravery of the patients and families they care for * Daily Mirror * I loved The Courage to Care - Christie Watson writes so tenderly and truthfully. It is a spirit-lifting read -- Jacqueline Wilson Watson has an unflinching eye for detail, and her ability to put the reader in the room means that we too bear witness... As Watson explains in her introduction, she has been talking and writing about the importance of nurses for years, but Covid-19 - which came along as she was making her final edits to the book - has made her subject more poignant and timely -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * The Times * Inspirational * Mail on Sunday *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
196 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5291-1107-1 (9781529111071)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2020
Vintage Digital
€9.49
Available for download
Person
Christie Watson is Professor of Medical Humanities at UEA and worked as an NHS nurse for over twenty years. She has written seven books, including her first novel Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, which won the Costa First Novel Award, and memoir, The Language of Kindness which was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. Christie is a contributor to The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph and TEDx, and her work has been translated into 23 languages and adapted for theatre.