A Nurse's Story: My Life in A&E During the Covid Crisis

Description

Moving, honest and inspiring - this is a nurse's story of life in a busy A&E department during the Covid-19 crisis. Working in A&E is a challenging job but nurse Louise Curtis loves it. She was newly qualified as an advanced clinical practitioner, responsible for life or death decisions about the patients she saw, when the unthinkable happened and the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The stress on the NHS was huge and for the first time in her life, the job was going to take a toll on Louise herself. In A Nurse's Story she describes what happened next, as the trickle of Covid patients became a flood. And just as tragically, staff in A&E were faced with the effects of lockdown on society. They worried about their regulars, now missing, and saw an increase in domestic abuse victims and suicide attempts as loneliness hit people hard. By turns heartbreaking and heartwarming, this book shines a light on the compassion and dedication of hospital staff during such dark times

Louise Curtis is an advanced clinical practitioner at an A&E in a major trauma centre. She was a nurse in the emergency department for just under eight years, working both as a staff nurse and deputy sister. She has volunteered abroad in South Africa, Thailand, Uganda and Ethiopia, caring for disabled orphans, HIV, and trauma patients. Sarah Johnson has been a journalist for twelve years, seven of them at the Guardian. She founded and edits the Blood, Sweat and Tears series which features first-person accounts of working in and receiving healthcare. As a writer, she specialises in mental health and other aspects of healthcare in the UK and abroad.

An important memoir that we all need to read right now. * Closer *