Intensive Care: A Doctor's Journal

This book was great! Especially for anyone interested in a medical career. The book provides an overview of what took place during Dr. Murray's month as the attending doctor at a Medical ICU. It provides very detailed accounts of a number of cases. Some cases ended on a positive note, while others not so much. I would recommend this book. In fact, Dr. Murray is still practicing one month a year at this hospital!

As an ICU nurse, I am often disturbed by the average person's expectations when a family member is treated in our intensive care unit. Too often, we are expected to perform miracles when at best all we can do is delay the course of nature for a few days or weeks while the family adjusts to the concept that their loved one is dying. This is frequently at the expense of the patient who is subjected to a long and uncomfortable death. Dr. Murray paints a true to life picture of what happens in the ICU by providing a day by day journal covering four weeks at San Francisco General Hospital. He provides an enlightening view of critical care that is both compassionate and accurate. His writing style is easy to understand, and the stories he tells of each patient he meets are compelling. He covers all; the successes, the failures, and those in between. Dr. Murray also addresses the ethical dilemmas facing us today regarding self determination and the allocation of scarce resources. A must read if you really want to know what happens to your loved ones in the ICU.

This is a clear, honest look inside the world of ICU. Concise, well-written, without the glitz and exaggeration served up by commercial TV in shows such as ER. This gifted physician shares his world view and realistically portrays the complexity and stresses of the day to day operation of an urban intensive care unit. Don't look for sentimentality here, this is more in the realm of science. Good job.