Book Review -- Night Shift Diary -- R.August King

Title: Night Shift Diary

Author: R.August King

Format: Kindle version

Publisher: Dorrance Publishing

I was first interested in this book as I too work Night shifts for the emergency services, so I thought I would see what a Night Shift was like from the eyes of a nurse.

This book starts of with his/her being a student nurse, and working through the different departments of a hospital. The author talks about their struggle with sleeping when working night shifts and I can symapthise fully with that! You have to be so aware as not to make mistakes which can make the difference to someone's life, so you have to get used to the lack of sleep.

There are tales about pregnant women who throw up their dinner all over her; Friday night bar fights with stabbings and tongues torn in half. Talks of working in the childrens ward, where the parents are more difficult than the patient! One tale made me smile. It was about an old lady who was in the mall doing her shopping and the author stood in the queue behind her. She noticed that she had what looked like a hospital gown underneath her coat and a hospital bracelet and a foley bag in her handbag, complete with urine and tubing! This reminds me of when patients abscond from hospitals and we as police, get called out to look for them. What a sight that must have been.

I laughed out loud at some of her incidents. I won't tell you in full about the man with some leaves hanging out of his rear end... You'll have to read that for yourself.

She (I'm just assuming it's a she) talks about working in intensive care; the heart unit and other departments. She also talks about the relationship between nursing staff and doctors.

This was only a short book, which I read in about 2 hours or so, but it was "enjoyable" if you can call someone dealing with death and illness as enjoyable. I liked the way the author injected some humour into the book, by using not just sombre tales but amusing tales too.

The book is good value for a quick read. You can tell the author is not an author of several books, due to the grammar in places, but nevertheless it was a pleasant read.

My rating 4/5

I received a complimentary copy of Night Shift Diary as a member of the    

Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team.  Visit dorrancebookstore.com

to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team.