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Nurses Beyond Borders: True Stories of Heroism and Healing Around the World
In Israel, a young nurse arrives seeking fun, romance, and danger--and leaves with the knowledge that we must care for our enemies as well as our friends. Struggling to save a once-healthy child, a veteran nurse working in Liberia fights language barriers and a lack of supplies. As she assists in an emergency C-section in the jungles of Guatemala, a nurse witnesses both unbearable pain and true joy, all in the space of 24 hours. A nurse suffering from her own losses creates order from chaos in a crowded Chinese orphanage--and learns about fate, faith, and hope. Every year, thousands of nurses travel abroad, hoping to ease suffering, save lives, and make a difference in countries other than their own. Each one has a story to tell. Award-winning author and travel nurse Nancy Leigh Harless shares a fascinating collection of true stories from dedicated nurses. In this inspiring anthology, they share their experiences working in Honduras, Laos, Chad, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Mexico, Cambodia, and beyond, where the languages, procedures, equipment, and even the doctors may be incredibly different from their home countries--but where the ultimate goal of providing excellent care and utmost compassion remains the same.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 23, 2010
1 person is currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Leigh Harless
3 books4 followersNancy Leigh Harless is an award winning poet and writer. Her works have been included in many anthologies including Cup of Comfort, The Healing Project, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Travelers Tales, as well as many professional and literary journals
A BSN graduate of Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education in Spokane,Washington, Nancy received her advanced degree at University of Texas S Medical Center. A retired nurse practitioner, Nancy travels often -- usually off the well-paved road. Throughout her travels she has seen women struggle, sometimes against daunting odds. She has seen them nearly break under the weight of their own lives. She also has felt an abundance of spirit, of wisdom and of connection with these same women -- ordinary women who live with extraordinary grace.
What she has come to know for sure is the message of her first book, Womankind: Connection & Wisdom Around the World, a collection of stories gleaned from her international nursing experiences and travels."
A BSN graduate of Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education in Spokane,Washington, Nancy received her advanced degree at University of Texas S Medical Center. A retired nurse practitioner, Nancy travels often -- usually off the well-paved road. Throughout her travels she has seen women struggle, sometimes against daunting odds. She has seen them nearly break under the weight of their own lives. She also has felt an abundance of spirit, of wisdom and of connection with these same women -- ordinary women who live with extraordinary grace.
What she has come to know for sure is the message of her first book, Womankind: Connection & Wisdom Around the World, a collection of stories gleaned from her international nursing experiences and travels."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 12, 2010
For a week or two after Port-au-Prince was flattened by the Haiti earthquake, we were glued to the TV while the human drama of recovery from a disaster was played out live, unscripted, made possible by the sophisticated technology of TV and global communication. We saw the recovery crews pulling out the people or their remains, watched the reporters interview nurses overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of patients, watched as mobs of desperate people swarmed the trucks delivering food and water, which was at first dumped out the back of the truck as it moved along, barely in control. The images highlighted the heroic nature of relief work. This epic disaster now moves to a quieter phase as it takes its place alongside the stories of 9- 11, Katrina, the Tsunami, wars and other manmade or natural events of history.
What was has been striking about all of these is the growing recognition of the role that nurses play in these events. At one hospital the CNN crew was referring to the workers as doctors, until the people delivering care came over to correct them. This has always been true about disaster publicity - the care is delivered by whomever happens to be there and more often than not it is a nurse.
And so this is the background from which I discovered the writings of Nancy Harless. I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of her latest book, Caring Beyond Borders, around the time of the earthquake. Like Ms. Harless, I have worked overseas and written about the experience. And like her, I have spent time trying to make sense of the experience, trying to explain it to others who I am not certain are really interested. Ms. Harless has worked in Mexico and also the Balkans during the recent war. Her previous books explore previous travels.
Caring Beyond Borders is an anthology. Two dozen nurses told their story about working in different parts of the globe. In some cases it was wartime - our own Viet Nam War or one of the civil wars of Africa. In other cases, the nurses may have been on a short-term mission trip or travelling. The stories are loosely organized into four categories - transition, shadows, humor, and looking back. There is no overarching "plot" nor is there any moralizing about the choices made by the nurse or the patients. As in the tradition of the best nursing "war stories" the clinical exemplars are just told, not a lot of frills or embellishments. and the reader is allowed to draw their own conclusions or ask their own questions. Ms. Harless wrote the introduction and a sort of study guide which is appended to the back.
The introduction is probably the clearest statement about the phenomenon of becoming a Global Nurse, of any that has been written. I found myself wanting to cut-and-paste the whole thing into this review. I knew I was in for a treat when she wrote "....Sit back. Get comfortable...." and then a few sentences later followed it up with "..... And then get uncomfortable -very uncomfortable - so uneasy that you too, feel the call for action...." My reaction was, here is a person who gets it and knows from whence she speaks.
There is a danger in describing overseas experiences, which is to romanticize the events, or the people who do this sort of thing, or their thinking. During a war, there will be periods of time that are boring, or where senselessly awful things happen for which there is no whitewash. Or we are led to think that the person telling the story has led a spotless personal life; or that the person never experienced fear and doubt during the experience, which is a particular failing of stories told by Christian Missionaries. It was something to which I was determined not fall victim in my own writing. Telling the real truth is something nurses pledge to each other at work and in their professional lives, and Ms. Harless deserves praise for that same commitment to truth she has continued in this work. These storytellers shared the aspects of global nursing that make it intense and very rewarding as well as a journey of personal discovery and service to humanity. Bravo.
And so, I recommend this book to any nurse that is thinking of getting outside their personal bubble of comfort zone and out in to the big wide world. Get comfortable. Read… the get Uncomfortable… very uncomfortable……
What was has been striking about all of these is the growing recognition of the role that nurses play in these events. At one hospital the CNN crew was referring to the workers as doctors, until the people delivering care came over to correct them. This has always been true about disaster publicity - the care is delivered by whomever happens to be there and more often than not it is a nurse.
And so this is the background from which I discovered the writings of Nancy Harless. I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of her latest book, Caring Beyond Borders, around the time of the earthquake. Like Ms. Harless, I have worked overseas and written about the experience. And like her, I have spent time trying to make sense of the experience, trying to explain it to others who I am not certain are really interested. Ms. Harless has worked in Mexico and also the Balkans during the recent war. Her previous books explore previous travels.
Caring Beyond Borders is an anthology. Two dozen nurses told their story about working in different parts of the globe. In some cases it was wartime - our own Viet Nam War or one of the civil wars of Africa. In other cases, the nurses may have been on a short-term mission trip or travelling. The stories are loosely organized into four categories - transition, shadows, humor, and looking back. There is no overarching "plot" nor is there any moralizing about the choices made by the nurse or the patients. As in the tradition of the best nursing "war stories" the clinical exemplars are just told, not a lot of frills or embellishments. and the reader is allowed to draw their own conclusions or ask their own questions. Ms. Harless wrote the introduction and a sort of study guide which is appended to the back.
The introduction is probably the clearest statement about the phenomenon of becoming a Global Nurse, of any that has been written. I found myself wanting to cut-and-paste the whole thing into this review. I knew I was in for a treat when she wrote "....Sit back. Get comfortable...." and then a few sentences later followed it up with "..... And then get uncomfortable -very uncomfortable - so uneasy that you too, feel the call for action...." My reaction was, here is a person who gets it and knows from whence she speaks.
There is a danger in describing overseas experiences, which is to romanticize the events, or the people who do this sort of thing, or their thinking. During a war, there will be periods of time that are boring, or where senselessly awful things happen for which there is no whitewash. Or we are led to think that the person telling the story has led a spotless personal life; or that the person never experienced fear and doubt during the experience, which is a particular failing of stories told by Christian Missionaries. It was something to which I was determined not fall victim in my own writing. Telling the real truth is something nurses pledge to each other at work and in their professional lives, and Ms. Harless deserves praise for that same commitment to truth she has continued in this work. These storytellers shared the aspects of global nursing that make it intense and very rewarding as well as a journey of personal discovery and service to humanity. Bravo.
And so, I recommend this book to any nurse that is thinking of getting outside their personal bubble of comfort zone and out in to the big wide world. Get comfortable. Read… the get Uncomfortable… very uncomfortable……
June 15, 2013
Although I have had this book awhile, I finally got to finish it. These nurses inspire me! Being a nurse and knowing one of the authors may create a bias, but I doubt anyone could read this without being so proud of these nurses and their humanitarian accomplishments. They know what needs to be done and they do it. They are my heros.
February 3, 2013
This was a great read. Many stories from different nurses and their experiences as nurses overseas.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews