Cooked: an Inner City Nursing Memoir

AORN Journal,  Oct, 2004  by Lesley J. Henderson

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Carol Karels 2002, 220 pp $13.99 paperback

What a wonderful walk down memory lane. It might be because the author and t graduated from nursing school the same year, or it might be the inclusion of details from that period of time. Whatever the reason, this book took me straight back to nursing school and the emotions of getting through the program and growing up at the same time.

The year of graduation is probably the only thing the author and I have in common; I was one of those pampered community college graduates she talks about in the book. While in nursing school, I remember thinking about what it must be like to go to school at one of the large teaching hospitals found in almost every major city. Although I had definite opinions about and impressions of what that experience would be like, this book shows that I was wrong.

The author takes readers not only back in time but--for those who never darkened the doors of a huge, urban teaching hospital--to a strange place. Her descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells are so good that readers can get lost in this foreign environment. For those who graduated from nursing school later than 1974, the descriptions of the wards and some of the medical procedures will be new concepts because most of them do not exist anymore. Little things, like the tailor-made uniforms, curfews, and afternoon teas on Sundays, are unthinkable in today's health care environment.

Do not be fooled into thinking that this is a rose-colored look at days gone by. The author discusses the gritty side of urban patient care as well. Her descriptions of the neighborhoods and inherent conflicts are relevant today. She also gives readers a glimpse of some issues that the nursing profession still is dealing with, such as funding and staffing issues. The author's experiences at a free clinic actually may sound familiar.

This book reads like a novel. It is reminiscent of the stories nurses share with each other whenever they gather. Anyone with an interest in nursing will enjoy this book. The author's experience could have belonged to me or a thousand others if we had only had the courage to leave a comfortable community college. This book gives nurses the opportunity to take that journey after all.

This book is available from Full Court Press, 601 Palisade Ave, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632.

LESLEY J. HENDERSON

RN, MSN, CNOR

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

FLOYD COLLEGE

ROME, GA

COPYRIGHT 2004 Association of Operating Room Nurses, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group