Helping people in an emergency situation, providing patient care, experience with the traumatized patient and family brings all of us into a community of brethren and sisterhood, or whatever term is used in this case. We all know we are select, not because of our expertise, though we need to provide excellence, but because we enjoy this work. On the front lines where anything and everything will come through those doors sooner or later.
Dr. Paul Seward presents his fifty years plus as an emergency room physician with humor and with his expertise in hand. Yes, after so many years, you can usual,y handle with care any problem that is presented. But, it is those previous years, learning on the job, so to speak, but with mentors surrounding you, that your real base begins. Your presence, your attitude, how you interact with the patient and his family makes you the health care professional you are. It is often said that in some cases if you don’t laugh you will cry. In the Emergency Department you do a lot of both. I would sometimes tell my patients that we expect a lot of our patients, sending them home so early post op, but they usually survive. At some point, I explain we may send them home with a kit, with instructions and they can perform their own surgery. Kidding, sure, but with a barbed point. Dr.Seward gives us examples of his patient care, with his own words what each patient went through, how they got to the ED, and how he cared for his patients and families.
Dr. Seward is the kind of physician you want to encounter, Intelligent, caring and with the expertise needed to keep you alive. His stories are rich and filled with his patient and collegial encounters that brings a guffaw or as with his first story, a few tears. His is a profession that can be so rewarding, and at the same time, very sad. Life may slip through his fingers no matter what he does. But, to have this kind of physician with you is every person’s wish. At the same time as a health care professional, we hope for the same kind of care when we present to the ED. I remember waiting for my daughter to arrive in the ED after an auto accident, accompanying her to X-ray and to the scans and then trembling when she was found whole and not in danger. Adrenaline keeps us going until it doesn’t. This is one of the better books on life in the emergency department, told first hand. I hope many people read about Dr Seward’s life in the ED, it will assist you in becoming a better advocate for your own health care.
Recommended. prisrob 09-03-18
Patient Care: Death and Life in the Emergency Room
4.4 | 373 ratings
Price: 1.99
Last update: 11-03-2024
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Top reviews from the United States
prisrob
Life In The Fast Lane
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2018
MyOpinion
I hope Seward MD is in my Ed some day
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2024Leslie Louise Kurilla
Wonderful, emotional, eye opening
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2024Labbylover19732
should be required reading in medical and nursing schools
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2024LP
There are better books out there
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024hifire88
Definitely pleased I selected this book
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2024Kathy Waters
ER doc tells it like it is
Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2024Amazon Customer
Great perspective from a doctor!
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2024