The Call of Nursing: Stories from the Front Lines of Health Care

The Call of Nursing is not your typical book about nurses. In its twenty-three candid self-portraits, we go behind the curtain of silence that often hangs between us - the patients who rely on the health care system - and the women and men who form the backbone of that system. We hear why nurses today do what they do, and see what has mattered most to them in their professional careers.

A hospice nurse describes a search for ethical practice that led her from Russia to the United States. A nurse corps officer in a traumatic brain injury ward recalls his deployment to Iraq while still in nursing school. An emergency and critical care nurse describes 9/11 as a rookie paramedic. A pediatric nurse describes her unwavering devotion to victims of sexual abuse.

The Call of Nursing succeeds at helping us see more clearly the kinds of challenges nurses face and accept on a routine basis, and offers a rare glimpse into the lives of women and men dedicated to care and service.