The Language of Kindness

A Nurse's Story

By: Christie Watson

Narrated by: Christie Watson

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Number-one international best seller.

A moving, lyrical, beautifully written portrait of a nurse and the lives she has touched.

Christie Watson spent 20 years as a nurse, and in this intimate, poignant, and remarkably powerful audiobook, she opens the doors of the hospital and shares its secrets. She takes us by her side down hospital corridors to visit the wards and meet her unforgettable patients.

In the neonatal unit, premature babies fight for their lives, hovering at the very edge of survival, like tiny Emmanuel, wrapped up in a sandwich bag. On the cancer wards, the nurses administer chemotherapy and, long after the medicine stops working, something more important - which Watson learns to recognize when her own father is dying of cancer. In the pediatric intensive care unit, the nurses wash the hair of a little girl to remove the smell of smoke from the house fire. The emergency room is overcrowded as ever, with waves of alcohol and drug addicted patients as well as patients like Betty, a widow suffering chest pain, frail and alone. And the stories of the geriatric ward - Gladys and older patients like her - show the plight of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Through the smallest of actions, nurses provide vital care and kindness. All of us will experience illness in our lifetime, and we will all depend on the support and dignity that nurses offer us; yet the women and men who form the vanguard of our health care remain unsung. In this age of fear, hate, and division, Christie Watson has created an audiobook that reminds us of all that we share, and of the urgency of compassion.

©2018 Christie Watson (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Many doctors have been distinguished writers. . . .But we haven’t heard enough from nurses, whose world is just as arcane and important. . . .The Language of Kindness could not be more compelling or more welcome: It's about how we survive, and about the people who help us do so." (The New York Times Book Review)

"I challenge anyone to get through all 336 pages without weeping. . . . Expect Watson's stories of patients like Tommy and Katie to linger with you many days after the final chapter." (The Sunday Times, London)

"This brilliant, life-changing book has to be experienced. . . . More than a memoir, The Language of Kindness exerts the power of a gripping novel." (The Irish Times)

An essential read for anyone who knows even one person

This is a potentially life changing book. We follow the author through her career choices as she settles on nursing. Her words have the depth and weight of the most important sermon. Truly a force of thought.

Well written

I am a nurse and liked the comprehensive look at what we do. Many of the stories are hard to listen to for parents or grandparents, but I do recommend this book.

Wow

Beautiful story, nursing is not an easy job it has ups and downs and the authors shows the struggles and rewards amazingly.

Loved

As an ER I love hearing stories of other nurses, what they feel and go through makes everything more comforting. This book was beyond amazing and loved every minute of it.

Who is in Pediatric Intensive Care?

Christie Watson in her "The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story," documents a vapid-less nursing career spanning over twenty years. In brief it explains the facets of life when one has chosen nursing as a profession (on a quotidian basis). Watson is an award winning writer---Costa first novel award. She now has found another way to express her empathy by way of teaching a disparate genre from which she was trained. Through her tales, we become fully submerged in care.

Nurses Love

thanks to Christie Watson for sharing her stories. The depth and diversity of nurses' work is not to be underestimated, and the importance of the work they do--helping us when we're vulnerable--is well-described here. A very worthwhile read.

Beautiful reflection through a nursing career

I have been a nurse going on 8yrs, and I’m finally able to step back and look at the bigger picture in most situations now. Self reflection is something I wish I wish I practiced more frequently in my busier more hectic and scarier days dreading going into work not knowing what the day would entail. But knowing at the end of the day I gave everything I could. And I’ve learned so much from patients and their families. And many stories Christie shares are relatable to my own stories and career, that I was able to laugh, cry, shake my head in what Ive thought to myself most days experiencing those very similar moments she’s written/spoken in this book. Overall; I’ve enjoyed this book and have shared it with some colleagues.

RN

I loved it. As an intensive care RN myself in the States, I found this book to be an accurate representation of a nurses journey. Highly recommend!

One of the "Very Good Ones"

I have had the misfortune of being hospitalized only a few times in my life, but the impact nurses had on my experience was always profound. Most of my nurses were efficient, competent, professional, and yes, kind. The outliers who did not display these traits stood out for their lack in one or more areas. In my experience they were rare and only served to help me appreciate the vast majority of nurses who helped me to recover quickly and return me to my normal life.

I recommend this memoir, written by a dedicated nurse, one of the the truly "good ones." What nurses do is so very important. We need to compensate them far better and elevate their status to the level it deserves. I very much hope physicians appreciate what a good nurse can bring to the table, the important contributions they make in patient care, recovery, and quality of life.

Touching and educational

Opened my eyes to the emotional side of nursing care. Very hard to put down. Beautifully read by the author.