Silent Struggle

Literature & Fiction

synopsis

Synopsis

Katie, a stoic young Native American, faces family pressures, a developing distant romantic relationship, and stress from nursing school clinicals during her junior year at Crestmont University in Dallas. Her dream of becoming a nurse is challenged when her mother suffers an injury that could force her to stay on the farm, assume her mother’s duties, and postpone her education, perhaps permanently. Compounding her stress, Katie’s childhood friend and soulmate’s demand for a greater level of commitment drives her into an emotional spiral as she tries to balance her dream of becoming a nurse and her love for John. The academically sound Katie finds that book learning is not sufficient for success in the clinical setting. Her frustration grows as she encounters difficulty in implementing her carefully crafted patient care plans. Her relationship with the Nurseketeers, her best friends and support system, deteriorates as she tries unsuccessfully to cope. She struggles in silence, turning in secret to alcohol to quell the chaos of clinical practice and putting herself in jeopardy of failing out of nursing school.

bio

Author Biography

Joy Don Baker & Terri Goodman, nursing students in the ‘70s like the fictional characters in their Nurseketeers series, are both writers in professional nursing literature. They met in the ‘80s and have remained friends for years. As co-authors, their mission is to share enjoyment, writing, and learning through meaningful stories about diverse nursing characters. Both are well-established leaders in perioperative nursing. Dr. Baker teaches at the University of Texas at Arlington and served as the editor-in-chief of AORN Journal. Dr. Goodman is an entrepreneur and an approved provider of continuing education as the principal at Terri Goodman & Associates. Baker & Goodman have produced the award-winning book A, B, & Cs of Author Partnering, the definitive how-to guide that leads readers through creating a partnership, establishing a productive work environment, and producing a work of fiction, non-fiction, or journal article.

website

Author Insight

When in Doubt, Throw it Out

Every profession has skills that require proficiency in order to practice efficiently and effectively. Skill mastery takes practice, and a professional should consider that anything short of excellent is not good enough.Communication, saying the right thing at the right time, is an essential skill to be mastered in any profession. In the healthcare environment, it is everyone's job to prevent a patient from acquiring an infection. In any sterile procedure, the field must have NO pathogens that can cause an infection... there's no middle ground. Any provider who suspects an item about to become part of a sterile field isn't sterile must speak up to protect the patient. "When in doubt; throw it out!"

Book Excerpt

Silent Struggle

“All new skills require practice, so don’t become overconfident. You must become comfortable leaning over, so water doesn’t drip on your clothing and hold your arms up so that the dirty water drips from your elbows and doesn’t contaminate what you’ve already scrubbed. To dry your hands, use one end of the towel for your first hand and the other end for the second. I recommend that you practice in the lab with running water. The better prepared you are, the more you’ll learn from the OR rotation.”

Katie’s back ached from leaning forward and holding her arms up for so long. Mrs. Newman watched carefully and pointed out each time students lowered their hands or reached to scratch their nose. “Aseptic technique is critical in the operating room and you must remember that sterility is absolute. An item is either sterile or it’s not. We must always protect the patient, so when the sterility of an item is in doubt, it must be considered contaminated. When in doubt, throw it out.”

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JD and T Baker and Goodman

Silent Struggle

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

When in Doubt, Throw it Out

Book Excerpt

Silent Struggle

Comment on this Bubble