Spr ing 2015
THE NURSES A Year with the Heroes Behind the Hospital Curtain Alexandra Robbins
I
n the same way that she explored the inner workings of sororities in her New York Times bestseller Pledged, award-winning journalist Alexandra Robbins now digs into another subculture of unique sisterhood—with a riveting look at a profession we all know, but in fact know little about. Told through the real-life stories and experiences of four nurses in four different hospitals over the course of one year, The Nurses is both a revealing portrait of an insular subculture and its 3.5 million members, the vast majority of which are women; and a work of investigative journalism examining the health care industry, its treatment (and mistreatment) of nurses, its flaws and contradictions. It’s a story of one of the world’s most vital professions and one of the world’s most dangerous, filled with violence, trauma, narrow victories, and heroic endeavors. In following four nurses, and interviewing hundreds of others, Alexandra Robbins creates sympathetic, involving characters while diving deep into their world of controlled chaos—the hazing (“nurses eat their young”); sex (not exactly like on TV, but it happens more than you think); drug abuse (disproportionately a problem among the best and brightest); and bullying (individually, by doctors; and collectively, by hospital and health care bureaucrats). The result is a story possessing all the twists and turns and satisfactions of a brilliantly told narrative, and an unvarnished, often infuriating look at our health care system.
Praise for Alexandra Robbins’s previous books: “The author has a gift for writing fact like fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Stellar reporting.”
* The compelling story of a year
in the life of four nurses—and the drama, unsung heroism, and unique sisterhood of nursing
* By the New York Times
bestselling author of Quarterlife Crisis, Pledged, The Overachievers, and The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth
* The inside story of one of the
world’s most important—and most dangerous—professions, filled with romance, hazing, drugs, violence, dark humor, and more
—The Weekly Standard
* Full-page ad in The New York Times
“Robbins’s mission is noble. . . . Remarkably well organized.”
* NPR sponsorship
—The New York Times Book Review
“Readers will find themselves guided by an excellent stylist and a first-rate mind.” —Houston Chronicle
* National TV and radio satellite tours * Advance Reader’s Copies * Winter Institute promotion
© David Robbins
Alexandra Robbins is an award-winning
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workman
journalist and author of four New York Times best sellers, including Pledged and The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and other publications, and she’s been on numerous television shows, including 60 Minutes, the Today show, Oprah, The Colbert Report, and more.
THE NURSES 304 pages; 61/ 8" x 91/ 4" Hardcover: $24.95/$31.95 Can. ISBN: 978-0-7611-7171-3 No. 17171
Ships: April