Book: Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul: 101 Stories to Celebrate, Honor, and Inspire the Nursing Profession. Canfield, J., Hansen, M.V., Mitchell-Autio, N., & Thieman, L. (2001). Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communication Inc.
Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul: 101 Stories to Celebrate, Honor, and Inspire the Nursing Profession is another choice in a wide selection of inspirational books. The book, published in 2001 by Health Communications, cites four authors. Jack Canfield has published 25 books including 20 Chicken Soup for the Soul books. He presents Training-of-the-Trainer programs which focus on the building of self-esteem and peak performance.
Mark Victor Hansen has given over 4,000 lectures on sales excellence and strategies, personal empowerment, and development. A prolific writer, Hansen has authored a number of his own books and co-authored the Chicken Soup for the Soul series with Jack Canfield.
Nancy Mitchell-Autio, RN, graduated from Arizona State University in May of 1994 with a BS in nursing. She worked until September of 1994 in an intensive care unit. She then moved back to Los Angeles and became involved with the Chicken Soup series. She is now Director of Story Acquisitions for the series. Following the death of her mother from breast cancer, she and her sister coauthored Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul. Since then she has coauthored several other books in the series.
The fourth author is LeAnn Thieman, LPN. Thieman is a professionally recognized author, speaker, and nurse. Her book, This Must Be My Brother, details her daring adventure of helping to rescue 300 babies from Saigon during the Vietnam war. Her life-changing lessons learned during that experience have resulted in her being a renowned motivational speaker. After her story was featured in Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul, Thieman continued to write seven more stories for the Chicken Soup books.
These inspirational stories about nursing experiences will find a wide audience in nursing and other healthcare professionals. It should probably be kept in the break room of every nursing unit to remind the footsore and weary nurse that in our lives, there are moments when we really feel appreciated or know that we have reached out and touched a life and made a difference. It would be nice to think the lay public would gain some insights into what our profession is all about. I am afraid the book won't reach that audience.
The book would certainly appeal to the idealism of young people considering a healthcare profession. However, it should be noted that while such moments certainly do happen in the course of our careers, every day is not one of glorious recognition.
It does bring to life the feelings of missed holidays with our own families so that we may care for those whose holidays are even less fortunate. The story of an Emergency Room staff caring for a homeless mother and her four children all feigning illness just to be warm on a Christmas Day brings tear to your eyes. The little boy who is paralyzed in an accident but learns to walk again thanks to a mysterious Nurse Julie makes one speculate about the power beyond our comprehension.
While most of the stories tug at your emotions, there are humorous moments and cartoons in the book. There is the humorous story about the ICU patient who becomes an uncontrollable psychotic. He can only be calmed down by his favorite nurse. She reminds him of his favorite striptease artist. How far does she have to go to get him under control for the safety of staff and patients?
The book will inspire student nurses and cause well-seasoned nurses to reflect on their own experiences. I was intrigued by the variety of quotes with which they captioned each story The strengths of the book lie in its human interest and fond recollections. The soft covered book is easy to read. The stories are divided into sections with titles such as, "The True Meaning of Nursing," "Challenges," "Miracles," "Defining Moments," etc. However, it is best taken in small doses to avoid saccharine overload or a very teary evening. I would rate it definitely a "four-Kleenex" book.