Has Anyone Read the Echo Heron Books?

Nurses General Nursing

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I was wondering if anyone has read any of the books written by Echo Heron. She is a gifted writer, and I have loved her books (Intensive Care, The Story of a Nurse; Condition Critical, The Story of a Nurse Continues). In these books, she chronicles the trials and tribulations of nursing school as well as her 20 years of practice in CCU and ED units. Although her non-fiction books are awesome, I've heard that her fiction lacks the pizazz that her other books have. Has anyone read these books? What did you think of them?

She is very critical on management though. If anyone knows why she's so critical of management, could you please post about it? I'd like to know about the "other side of the coin", as I'd like to consider a post in management one day.

Not to give it away, **STOP READING IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS**

But she quit nursing after her second book and went to go live on an island on Montserrat. Even though she has written a 3rd non-fiction book (Nurses on the Front Line - or something like that), I don't believe she has returned to Nursing. Does anyone know what she's doing now? Did she ever return to nursing?

If you'd like a great read about Nursing, I highly recommend her books. She's a very gifted writer and I've enjoyed them very much. I'm just wondering if other people have read them, especially other nurses and what they thought.

Katherine

Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

Know I'm in the minority here but...

Liked the coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, but much of the rest of that book as well as Echo's first, I thought was drawn out and a bit S-L-O-W. Thought she could've saved 50% of the verbiage.

Sorta felt like she was purposely trying to stretch things out -- like grade schoolers use to do on composition assignments where "you gotta meet the 500 words' requirement" -- without adding any real substance.

Anyway, just an alternative opinion.

I just wonder what she ended up doing. I've done some searches, and I haven't found anything. I hope that she still is an advocate for nurses everywhere!
I talked with her by phone and email a couple of years ago - she was gathering information for another book about ER nurses...have not seen anything come from that yet...but then I haven't been looking!!!!

Maybe we could get her to do something like a chat for her fans from allnurses.com? That would be pretty darn awesome... although, she'd probably charge for something like that; if that's the case, I wonder how much she charges?

It would be fun to do a chat with her though...

Katherine

Happy Birthday to me!

I just finished Intensive Care: Story of a Nurse...and I read it faster than any book I have ever come across. It really made me laugh, and I also found myself crying. I have just started Condition Critical and hope it's as good as the first. I ordered Tending Lives from overstock.com...waiting for it to come in the mail. Yay! Extremely interesting reads.

Specializes in Med/Surg.

I have read all her nursing related books and loved them all. Would read the fiction ones too, but I am not much of a fiction reader. I wonder how she would like the new nurse/patient ratios recently enacted in California, since that's where she's from?? Just a thought...

I read Echo Heron's books a while ago...like many others have said here, these books are what solidified my dream of being a nurse (although it has taken me several years later to finally pursue it!).

Tending Lives is one of the best books I've ever read about nursing. It took me through so many different emotions (cockroaches, anyone?), and it really makes one see how many incredible people there are in this profession and why it is so worthwhile, even with all of the issues. At least it did for me, anyway! Happy reading!

I read "Critical Care" and "Tending Lives." Heron's career is very much like mine. She worked for 17 years and I worked for 22, mostly ER. In "Tending Lives" each chapter is the story of nurses working in different specialties. The most telling chapter is "Echo Heron", a minute-by-minute of her last bedside shift. She taught me that the longer I stayed at the bedside the more certain I would be when the moment arrived that I could no longer do it. Echo's moment came in 1994, when she ended her shift and NEVER looked back. My moment came last year when my boss decided it was less trouble to suspend, fire, and blackball me, and then file a complaint on my license than to address my written complaints of harassment.

Anyone thinking about entering the profession, and everyone having second thoughts about it should read her non-fiction books. Talk to nurses who have five years' experience, since 85 per cent leave the profession by then. The more we know about quality care, the more frustrated we are with the virtual impossibilty of providing it.

Like Heron, I intend to keep up my license and ACLS. Like her, I pray every day that I will never again have to use them.

Specializes in Cardiology.

Just last week I finished reading her book Tending Lives: Nurses on the Medical Front. It was a great book, as many other posters have said. I was not sure about the other two books because they are older, but now I'm going to get them since everyone seems to give them a postive rating. Thanks!

...Jennifer...

I liked the one ofher books I read - I forget the title. I thought she was pretty good but a bit holier-than-thou.

This is amazing!! I had just ordered the books from Amazon myself and then decided to swing over here and see if there were ever any discussions on her & the books....and look what I come across!!!:rotfl:

I guess great minds think alike!!!!!!:p

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