The tapestry of care

Abstract

For three years, journalist Suzanne Gordon observed three nurses-Nancy Rumplik, a nurse in the Hematology/Oncology Outpatient Clinic, Jeannie Chaisson, a medical clinical nurse specialist on a general medical unit; and Ellen Kitchen, a geriatric nurse practitioner in home care—at a Boston teaching hospital. Using their experiences with patients, nurses, physicians, and other colleagues as a prism to look at nursing practice, history, nurse-physician relationships, and nursing's future, Gordon has written LifeSupport: Three Nurses on the Frontlines. This book is an attempt to show the American public the importance of nursing practice. In today's health care climate, where cost cutting is directly targeting caregiving, it argues that nurses are a precious resource we must preserve and defend. This excerpt is from LifeSupport. ∗ ∗ From Life Support: Three Nurses on the Frontlinesby Suzanne Gordon, with an introduction by Claire M. Fagin, RN, PhD, FAAN, ©1997. Reprinted by permission of Little, Brown & Company. Available at your local bookstore, or to order a copy call 1-$00-236-READ.