Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Shift

  • One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives
  • By: Theresa Brown RN
  • Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
  • Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (208 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Shift cover art

The Shift

By: Theresa Brown RN
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Sorry for Your Loss cover art
The White Coat Diaries cover art
I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out cover art
Nobody Loves Me cover art
The Doctor Will See You Now cover art
The Nurse's Secret cover art
34 Patients cover art
The Doctor Will See You Now cover art
At the End of Life cover art
Singular Intimacies cover art
Monday Mornings cover art
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends cover art
The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly cover art
The Nurses cover art
Catch Your Breath cover art
The Beauty in Breaking cover art

Summary

In a book as eye-opening as it is riveting, practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day in a hospital's cancer ward. In the span of 12 hours, lives can be lost, life-altering medical treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. In Brown's skilled hands - as both a dedicated nurse and an insightful chronicler of events - we are given an unprecedented view into the individual struggles as well as the larger truths about medicine in this country. By shift's end we have witnessed something profound about hope, healing, and humanity.

Every day Theresa Brown holds patients' lives in her hands. On this day there are four: Mr. Hampton, a patient with lymphoma to whom Brown is charged with administering a powerful drug that could cure him - or kill him; Sheila, who may have been dangerously misdiagnosed; Candace, a returning patient who arrives (perhaps advisedly) with her own disinfectant wipes, cleansing rituals, and demands; and Dorothy, who, after six weeks in the hospital, may finally go home. Prioritizing and ministering to their needs takes the kind of skill, sensitivity, and, yes, humor that enable a nurse to be a patient's most ardent advocate in a medical system marked by heartbreaking dysfunction as well as miraculous success.

©2015 Theresa Brown (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Shift

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    115
  • 4 Stars
    51
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    115
  • 4 Stars
    42
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    104
  • 4 Stars
    43
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So full of emotions and an insightful view of a nurses life

As a nurse this book brings all the feelings and emotions to life. I am a children’s nurse but many aspects and experiences are the same. From the feeling of not wanting to get up in the morning to not being able to give your all to all patients, it gave me all the emotions from the smiles to the tears. It is well written and read and should be read by all!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

This book was interesting in places . I found the narrator irritating and the minutiae of every part of her life away from the actual nursing tedious.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Get yourself better organised!

I was a nurse for 24 years and found the litany of whinges tedious. Any paid work has its downsides but to construct a novel entirely out of moans about how tiring and frustrating a role is results in an uninteresting read. The writer claims to have worked in this role for many years but has not yet worked out how to organised appropriate sustenance for her shifts. I can sum the story up in two words as poor me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting book

I can relate to this book in real life experience, i really enjoyed so interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not that great

I really did try to listen to this book, as all I seem to listen too on Audible is medical books. However, by the middle of the book, I was really struggling to stay interested. I also found the voiceovers to be a bit too eccentric and overall, it wasn't easy to listen too. Very disappointed and lacked a good story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So relatable!

As a fellow nurse, although not oncology, this book is so relatable! I could put myself in Theresa’s shoes from the beginning right to the end..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Self indulgent

I found this book to be more suited to a private diary. The way we all compose our story in our head, with ourselves at the centre, saving the day. Our compassion and empathy overflowing, our actions making everyone's life so much better...

This book appealed to me as I have been the patient on oncology, I have so much gratitude for the medical staff who saved me and wanted to hear more from their side. My experience of the staff, learning their story during my journey; their empathy was so natural they wouldn't highlight it. Much less swim in it the way this author appears to. Modest and understated, quiet yet a force of nature, maybe it's a British thing!

The writing style just wasn't for me, although any nurse, auxiliary, doctor, or carer is still amazing and I thank my lucky stars every day for them and all they did, and still do, to keep me alive.



Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Very boring

Long and tedious book. Far more information than needed
The narrator wasn’t good either. She has a whiny, monotone voice

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really enjoyable

As a non medical practitioner but someone who has spent large amounts of time in hospital, I really enjoyed the levelling of this text. Others may not, but enjoyable for me

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Such a surprise to hear

I’ve watched the UK ER programmes, both fictional and fact and often thought I wonder what other countries do about healthcare. This book answered lots of questions. There are many differences between USA and uk hospitals, but the struggles of a nurse seems the same what ever side of the Atlantic you are on. The evidence is not always measurable on what these guys do in a typical day. It’s nothing short of a miracle we get people to do the job at all. Well done Teresa, i would want to be looked after by you if I was ill x

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!