Night Shift: Stories from the Life of an ER Doc

by Mark Plaster

In the stories of "Night Shift," Dr. Mark Plaster takes readers beyond the ambulance bay doors into the stranger-than-fiction world of the Emergency Department. By turns heart-warming and gut-wrenching, "Night Shift" chronicles the ebb and flow of human life, in all of its unvarnished glory, as it passes through the doors of the ED.

Genres: Medical, Nonfiction, Medicine

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 4, 2014

Reviews

[Kade Gulluscio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Night Shift is a medical book written by Dr. Mark Plaster about his personal experiences working as an ER doctor.
I absolutely love books like this. I don't know why, but I'm always intrigued by interesting or unique medical patient cases / stories. I, myself, could NEVER work in the medical field. The blood, vomit ,etc is not something I could handle, so I have the utmost respect for those that do.
Dr. Plaster did a great job telling these stories. He sounded compassionate and sympathetic towards EVERY patient he told us about, admitted he had flaws [ wow a doctor admitting he wasn't perfect! haha jk ]; and he kept his personal life stories fairly limited so the majority of the book is straight to the point with the patient stories!

I particularly liked the story about the 13/14 year old girls and how he could relate due to his daughter being the same age... how it put some things into perspective for him. As a mother to a 13 year old, I have the same fears and worries too.

I also liked the story about the old homeless man who was upset about cutting off the "many sizes too big" suit he had on. With the way he told that story, you could tell he actually had respect and concern for the old man.

This was well worth the read, check it out!

[L.K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

You read ONE book about the ER and now Amazon thinks all I want to read are crazy medical and Doctor-Coming-Of-Age stories. It amuses me doctors write down these Great Realizations they have, which other people growing up in a career surely also have. Except other people aren't doctors and there is no life and death circumstances. Hard to write about intense, Great Realizations you stumble into while in a mid-level marketing gig. But involve blood, and the pearls of wisdom coming spewing out.

[Hillary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally I love books like this. I don't know if this author is just a preachy person, or if somehow when he removed identifying details from his case reports and shift reports the stories lost something vital and became moralistic pap... But I really didn't love this.

[Brenda Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I expected

I began this book expecting somewhat dry descriptions of what being an emergency room physician experiences day in, day out. It was anything but that. There were times I laughed out loud at some of the stories. Of course, there’s mention of his frustrations when trying to help patients and exhaustion on busy nights, but the stories simply show him as a human being doing the best he can in these situations. I will recommend this book to friends.

[Donna Magee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous

Dr. Plaster has a way with words...and patients, colleagues and administrators!

This is an interesting and intense read. The author provides enough information regarding injuries and treatments that even those with no medical experience should be able to grasp the concepts and form a mental picture. Includes family dynamics typical of night shift, which add to the storylines. It's a quick read that keeps the reader involved.

I wish he'd write more.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing

I found this author comes across as quite arrogant and very unlikable. After reading a few other similar books - Letters from the pit, The next patient, and Holiday SOS, I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, I found his attitude and the tone of the writing was off-putting and diminished my enjoyment. It also made me feel quite relieved that I would never be one of his patients!

[Melanie Rowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant author!

I read this in three nights and hated to reach the end. He doesn't cover you with medical terms and bury you up in explanations, h uses them and then gives you enough information so you know what is the problem. His interaction with his wife, his patients and staff make you want more books from him. Glad to have found this great book.

[Margaret Agard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the read

I enjoyed this. It had a good mix of interesting cases and personal discovery. If you like medical memoirs--and I do--you'll appreciate this one. Lots of detailed cases with introspection by the author.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

I really enjoyed reading these stories. I can totally relate to some of them. People can be so funny and odd sometimes

[Jeanie Kenkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart and laugh-out-loud funny.

[Stephanie Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Doctor

You get to know Dr. Plaster in the stories he writes. You can tell that he really cares and wants the best for all people.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

This book is a great look inside the human aspect of medical practice. Written with great humility, transparency, and professional clarity.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. An antidote to the antiseptic health care Rube Goldberg device. A real doctor recalling his encounters with patients and systems good and bad, including himself.

[Cheryl Ashburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest portrayal

I enjoyed the candor. Very human. Style is easy to follow and good level of detail. Hood variety of experiences

[Toby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed immensely

This book is a must read for any one and especially those working in the hospital healthcare. I really enjoyed it

[Kayce B]

Maybe I need to stick to books written by nurses or slightly younger docs.

[Kathleen Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Very interesting from the doctor's point of view. Everyone is human, and people need to know that there are very good reasons why the docs ask questions!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has had a career as an ER doctor at many hospitals and in the military. He tells his stories well, and the book is well organized. I usually like this genre, but there was something about him and his book that just didn't click with me.

[Julia Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

He ruined his own book

The writing was profound. Beautiful. Lovely. Poetic- then comes a self righteous rant about healthcare not being a right. A woe is me, I pay taxes so those in need can get help. He desperately tries to than include Jesus, claims Christianity but as a Christian I became disgusted and disheartened at the end. How dare he, who works hard but also lives a charmed life show no compassion for the addict, the mentally I'll, the drunk? Those in poverty? It's a flamboyant, look at me read done very poorly. Good luck to you doc, I hope you find true compassion (not the facade through this book) and become humane. Don't waste your time, it proves doctors are self absorbed, which I believe to be false- his book proves otherwise.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read better doc books, and I've put down way worse. This one was good! Kinda wish he would have gone into more detail about his career, and included more contextual information/discussion of the role of the itinerant ER doc. Also his decision to join the Navy was out of left field. There's at least one book out there about this specifically: he's a PCP, lives and practices in Columbine, CO, and felt a very strong urge to enlist, then did two tours.

[Kay Routh]

Very truthful

I was an er nurse for 30 years and all he wrote was exactly right on. We had good days and bad but our docs thought highly of us and we worked as a team.

[Mark A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

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