Taking Care

<p><strong>DiGregorio's storytelling is pitch-perfect; narrative and nursing she understands come from the same place and both are concerned with a deep understanding of character and plot....This is a brilliant book and DiGregorio is a beautiful writer. <em>Taking Care</em> deserves to be on the reading list for nursing and medical schools and on the bedside table of all politicians.</strong>--<strong><em>New York Times Book Review</em></strong></p><p><strong>In this sweeping cultural history of nursing from the Stone Age to the present the critically acclaimed author of <em>Early</em> pays homage to the profession and makes an urgent call for change.</strong></p><p>Nurses have always been vital to human existence. A nurse was likely there when you were born and a nurse might well be there when you die. Familiar in hospitals and doctors' offices these dedicated health professionals can also be found in schools prisons and people's homes; at summer camps; on cruise ships and even at NASA. Yet despite being celebrated during the Covid-19 epidemic nurses are often undermined and undervalued in ways that reflect misogyny and racism and that extend to their working conditions--and affect the care available to everyone. But the potential power of nursing to create a healthier more just world endures.</p><p>The story of nursing is complicated. It is woven into war plague religion the economy and our individual lives in myriad ways. In <em>Taking Care </em> journalist Sarah DiGregorio chronicles the lives of nurses past and tells the stories of those today--caregivers at the vital intersection of health care and community who are actively changing the world often invisibly. An absorbing and empathetic work that combines storytelling with nuanced reporting <em>Taking Care</em> examines how we have always tried to care for each other--the incredible ways we have succeeded and the ways in which we have failed. Fascinating empowering and significant it is a call for change and a love letter to the nurses of yesterday today and tomorrow.</p>