I Recommend 5: Medical Memoirs

I have made no secret of my love for memoirs relating to the medical/nursing/healthcare field. It is quite a specific area of interest, which is probably not something a lot of people would chose to read, but I find these so interesting. As someone who personally works in this field, I gain a lot more than entertainment from reading these. While many of the memoirs I read are entertaining and contain a lot of funny stories of real life experiences, there is always a lot to learn from the overall message. 

As I have read quite a lot of these types of books, I wanted to recommend some. Not all of the books on this list were 5 star reads for me, but all of them are books I feel are important. Books in general are subjective, and I feel like this kind of book is even more so as everyone can take something different from them depending on their connection to healthcare. I have specifically chosen 5 very different books so I am hopeful that there will be something for everyone.

1. This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay

This is such a popular medical memoir that I feel like everyone I have spoken to about it has read it. Adam Kay was a junior doctor working within the NHS in England and, in this book, shares his experience. This is one of the funniest medical memoirs I have read, as Adam Kay is just a brilliant storyteller. He does an amazing job of sharing hilarious patient stories, while also emphasising the problems within the NHS that lead to him reconsidering his career. I listened to this on audiobook, which the author narrates himself, and can't recommend it highly enough. If you only read one book from this list, make it this one!

2. Hard Pushed by Leah Hazard

This is another one of my absolute favourites. Leah Hazard is a midwife in the NHS and shares her story in this memoir. This is one of the most eye-opening and well-written memoirs I have ever read. Leah Hazard balanced showcasing the struggles of working in such an understaffed and underfunded health service with the beauty and importance of the role of a midwife perfectly. She so eloquently expressed the real lows she has reached throughout her career, while also sharing some fun, heart-warming stories about the women she has cared for. She tells her story with such passion for job that you can't help but feel passionate about it with her.

3. The Language Of Kindness by Christie Watson

Another memoir from within the NHS, this time from a nurse. This is a bit different to the previous recommendations, as it focuses a bit less of fun stories and more on a more academic discussion of the role of a nurse and of kindness as the one fundamental aspect of the job. While there are stories throughout of Christie Watson's time across a variety of settings within the hospital, both as a nurse and as a family member, each story is used to display the role of the nurse and what it takes to be a nurse. It felt a lot less accessible as the others I have mentioned, but I would consider it a must-read for anyone in the nursing field, or considering nursing as a profession. 

4. Unnatural Causes by Richard Shepherd

The most recent medical memoir I have read tells of the career of the UK's top forensic pathologist. This is one of the most unique memoirs I have read as it was an area I knew absolutely nothing about. I found it so incredibly interesting to learn about a topic most people would shy away from: death. This book makes you think about death more than is probably comfortable for most people, but in a very different way. It is full of interesting stories of Richard Shepherd's career, including high profile cases such as the death of Princess Diana and the 9/11 attacks. I have never read anything like it, and I learnt so much from it.

5. The Shift by Theresa Brown

This is the only book on this list that isn't based in the UK healthcare system. This is a book by a nurse in the US and essentially chronicles one twelve hour shift. We follow her throughout her shift, meeting her patients and observing her ever growing list of jobs. I think this is such a great way of showcasing how much a nurse has to do over the course of just one shift. It's a great look at just how varied the role is and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is still under the impression that the role of a nurse is to 'wipe bums'. It was quite different to any typical 12-hour shift I have experience in the UK, but it a was a very interesting, and super quick, read.

Those are my 5 recommendations, for now. I have read so many medical memoirs, and continue to read them, so I could definitely do a part 2 if anyone would be interested. I am also always looking for more recommendations, so please do leave any you have in the comments.

What is your favourite type of non-fiction to read? Have you read any good medical memoirs?

Sophie :)

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Mini Review | The Language Of Kindness by Christie Watson

The Language Of Kindness: A Nurse's Story by Christie Watson
Published On: May 3, 2018
Published By: Chatto & Windus
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Pages: 336
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★

Amazon | Goodreads

Christie Watson was a nurse for twenty years. Taking us from birth to death and from A&E to the mortuary, The Language of Kindness is an astounding account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness. 
We watch Christie as she nurses a premature baby who has miraculously made it through the night, we stand by her side during her patient’s agonising heart-lung transplant, and we hold our breath as she washes the hair of a child fatally injured in a fire, attempting to remove the toxic smell of smoke before the grieving family arrive. 
In our most extreme moments, when life is lived most intensely, Christie is with us. She is a guide, mentor and friend. And in these dark days of division and isolationism, she encourages us all to stretch out a hand.

*A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This is my kind of book.
I feel like everyone has that one very specific type of book that they can never pass up and for me that is medical non-fiction or memoirs. I find different healthcare systems and the experiences of people working within them so interesting that I could read these types of books forever. If you are one of these slightly odd people like me, this book is definitely for you.

I loved so much of it.
If I was rating this book purely on the information within it and what I took from it, it would easily be a five star read. There is so much really great information about what it takes to be a nurse and how much the job takes from you. These are things I already knew, but reading about a person's real experience of their job and how the challenges of nursing made a real impact on their life made it all the more real. This is a perfect book for anyone in the nursing or healthcare field.

It is not for everyone.
Being in this field, I found this book so interesting and helpful. However, I don't think those outwith the field will be able to take the same from it. It is not a memoir filled with funny stories of interesting patients, it is a real, raw look at nursing and everything nurses face. There is a lot of nursing theory and almost academic discussion, which I learnt a lot from but is not likely to be the most interesting thing for non-nurses to be reading about.

The writing was hard to follow.
While the content was great, the writing didn't flow making it a little difficult to follow. We jumped from one story to the next without transition and it was often unclear when these stories took place in relation to the point in her career. This did not take away from the content but was a little confusing.

A must-read for anyone considering nursing.
I think this book should be compulsory reading material for anyone considering nursing as a career. I know many student nurses who could have benefited from this kind of insight into the career before starting their studies. It is a true representation of life as a nurse, warts and all, and emphasises the true fundamental aspect of nursing; kindness.

Overall, I think this is a great nursing memoir for those in the healthcare field but may not be the most accessible, easy to read book for others. Personally, I took a great deal from this book and have learnt things that I know I will put into practice in my own career. I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the field or considering nursing as a career, but it is not a book for everyone.