The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story by Christie WatsonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 3 days
Pages - 352
Publisher - Vintage
Source - Bought copy
Blurb from 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.
My Review
Watson takes us on her impressive career as a child's nurse and the exposure she had giving others care. The run up to how she got into care, person experiences, different areas and situations. Some of it is harrowing, some of it uplifting and as I have always known, I could never be a pediatric nurse, hats off to them.
An eye opening story about different aspects of care, pressures, fears, struggles and some of the most rewarding points of working as a nurse in these areas. There are some big words used that if you don't work in health you would need to look up, a wee glossary would have helped for non medical folk. I don't think it detracts overall from the stories though. Emotive, thought provoking and a huge thank you to Watson for the care she gave over the years to all of those patients.
I have found myself buying and reading a lot more medical books and those in other professions, it gives the public an insight into just how horrific some of these jobs are and how much it can demand from a person. 3.5 out of 5 for me this time, absolutely worth a read, have a wee tissue nearby though.
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