Karen Lee
A memoir of an ICU nurse starting her career in a neuroscience critical care unit where she encounters patients with debilitating strokes, traumatic brain injuries, and other devastating neurological conditions. Written in epistolary style with a unique Buddhist perspective, readers will enter a world-class hospital where many critically ill patients are alive but not living, misery and suffering abound, and the human will to endure is tested.Read fascinating clinical cases from a neuro and burn ICU; uncover powerful lessons in compassion, mindfulness, and what matters in the end; and explore themes in Eastern philosophy-the inevitability of death, the meaning of life, and the nature of human suffering.With eclectic references to Stoicism, Kill Bill, Schrödinger’s cat, a saponified corpse called The Soap Lady, and including excerpts from a wide range of literary works-from Borges to ancient Buddhist classics and pop song lyrics-readers will be captivated and compelled to ponder what it means to live and love one another in the end. A most human and humane of memoirs.A candid, unfiltered memoir that will resonate deeply with nurses everywhere. A great gift and primer for a nursing student or anyone interested in learning more about nursing, medicine, and the drama happening inside a hospital that no one talks about. Until now.
