I wish I had learned this in Nursing School

[So.very.blessed]

to all nurses (rn, lpn, cna, and whatever other initials) new grads and old nurses (like me): i would like to share a wonderful book that touched me so deeply. i really wish i had learned the content of this in nursing school, but talking to a "new grad", i don't think our education has changed much (i graduated 1979, rn, bsn, and we didn't learn this.)

we've all cared for stroke patients. (this also applies to any "brain injury" patients.) additionally, my mother had multiple strokes that left her more and more aphasic over the years. i really was a terrible nurse daughter as i struggled to care for her. i wish i had read this first!

i just listened to the audio book, "my stroke of insite" by jill bolte taylor. (and read by the author.)

jill bolte taylor, phd is a neuroanatomist, who in 1996 due to an unknown avm (artial venous malformation) suffered a massive hemmorhagic cva that erased her ability to walk, talk, read, do math, etc... (she was basically gorked). her remarkable story details her slow recovery of those abilities (and the cultivation of new ones) and recounts exactly what happened with her brain. i learned "first person" what a stroke patient experienced.

"read proficiently by the author, this is a fascinating memoir of the brain's remarkable resiliency and of one woman's determination to regain her faculties and recount her experience for the benefit of others. her holistic approach to healing will be valuable to stroke survivors and their caregivers, who can pick up suggestions from taylor's moving accounts of how her mother faithfully loved her back to life." (i have copied a few sentences from the publisher's synopsis.)

it apparently took about 8 years for her to recover. as i finished about half of the audio book, i realized that i was listened to the author who amazingly had recovered to write and read her story. at the end of the book, she asked that we share with other healthcare providers (i'm going to share with my neurologist), nurses, other stroke patients and caregivers. (thank you allnurses.com) :hrnsmlys:

you've got to read this! check it out at your library. listen to the audio book. it will change how you care for brain injury patients in the future!

[sethmctenn]

There is also video of her online. It's awesome.

[So.very.blessed]

Wow! Thanks so much for forwarding this site. :)

[BKCinNOLA]

I'm reading "My Stroke of Insight" right now! It's so good/amazing/insightful (no pun intended)

Also, "Walk on Water: The Miracle of Saving Children's Lives" by Michael Ruhlman is a good read about pediatric congenital cardiac surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. It documents mostly the work of surgeon Dr. Robert Mee, but also paints portraits of various families affected by congenital heart defects. Check it out!