I’m pleased to announce that I’m coordinating a new series at City of Asylum, where I had my book launch event for Healing. I will host 4 talks this calendar year, 2 in the spring (we hope) and 2 next fall. I LOOOOOVE the idea of finding the humanity in health care. This newsletter discusses the first event of the series, which will be Tuesday, March 14, from 7-8:30pm. People can attend in-person or virtually.
I also discuss a few of the many books and authors we’ve considered for the series, in case you’re looking for something to read on this topic. There’s so much bad news in health care right now that trying to locate more humanity in our crazy care system makes me feel hopeful, even if systemic problems inevitably get highlighted in the process.
A big thank you to Lisa Parker, Director of the Center for Bioethics & Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh, for partnering with City of Asylum, and me, to curate this series. Lisa’s ideas and enthusiasm have been critical to the overall shaping of “Healthcare & Humanity.”
March 14 Event, 7-8:30pm
Travis Rieder, Director of the Master of Bioethics program at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, is the first speaker in the series. His book, In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids, is not the usual one of addiction conquered, but rather of addiction inadvertently fallen into and then escaped. He had a serious motorcycle accident in 2015 and was prescribed opioids to handle the resulting pain. After being told to abruptly stop taking his oxycodone, Rieder developed terrible withdrawal symptoms and discovered that he was, in fact, addicted to opioids.
In nursing school we learned about the difference between physical and psychological addiction to a drug. The border between those two types of addiction—especially when discussing narcotics—is probably hazier than they made it sound in school, and Rieder’s book probes both the nature of addiction and how he got out from under it.
As a hospice nurse I valued opioids because they gave dying patients much needed pain relief. However, their danger is also undeniable: according to the CDC the number of deaths from drug overdoses topped 100,000 last year. This quotation from The New York Times review of Rieder’s book highlights his concluding insight, which is that opioids need to be used well, and often are not: “Doctors still overprescribe opioids out of habit, but they also underprescribe opioids out of fear…We must recognize that opioids are not only dangerous, addictive drugs. They’re also powerful medicines, which means we need to figure out how to use them in a responsible, nuanced fashion.”
Sign up for the event here: Travis Rieder Event at City of Asylum.
A few other books you might like…
NOTE: We’re finalizing the invite list for the remainder of the series. Please take the reading suggestions below as what they are—my personal recommendations. There are so many good choices for this series we feel spoiled for choice and are busy narrowing down the possibles.
A Pittsburgh Angle
The Next Shift by Gabriel Winant
Gabriel Winant’s book The Next Shift: The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America traces the decline of the steel industry in Pittsburgh and the growth of health care to take its place. Unfortunately, the health care jobs that replaced steelwork paid relatively poorly and primarily attracted women and people of color, not the men who hoped to secure high-paying manufacturing jobs. I found this an eye-opening book about the uniquely messed-up health care situation in Pittsburgh. The book has a wider scope than Pittsburgh, though; it tracks the transformation of manufacturing jobs into health care jobs, and discusses the difficult cultural and economic changes that accompanied that transition.
American Sirens by Kevin Hazzard
Kevin Hazzard’s book American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics recounts the history of the Black paramedics who essentially created Emergency Medicine. The first true paramedics in the nation, who defined emergency medicine for the U.S. and the world, staffed Freedom House EMS, an ambulance service in Pittsburgh. The story of these Black paramedics was lost until Kevin Hazzard uncovered it. An EMT himself, Hazzard portrays the struggle to create the field of emergency medicine, the excitement of the men’s work, and the racism that eventually took their jobs away. It’s a great read, even if you’re not from Pittsburgh. (Full disclosure—I blurbed this book.)
Humanity in health care includes equity (see MLK quotation above)
Black Fatigue by Mary-Francis Winters
I haven’t read Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit by Mary-Francis Winters, so I copied in excerpts of an article on the book in the American Heart Association News. The idea that racism creates chronic fatigue, which is obviously a health problem, is a provocative idea about how racial discrimination in America fundamentally compromises the health of Black Americans. I plan to read the book.
“Before she gave the feeling a name, Mary-Frances Winters felt it constantly. She calls it ‘a dull droning sound that is always present’ and ‘an underlying syndrome of sorts that permeates my very being.’ It's the exhaustion born of ‘the day-to-day small acts of aggression, or small acts of disrespect’ a Black person endures; the endless need to prove your worth; and the constant exposure to news about injustice and violence being inflicted on people who look like you. She calls the feeling ‘Black fatigue.’ Winters emphasizes that the problem lies in the systemic and historical oppression, not the people being oppressed. ‘Being Black is not exhausting,’ she said. ‘Racism is exhausting.’”
Under the Skin by Linda Villarosa
My last newsletter talked about Linda Villarosa’s Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation and I’m including it here because one obvious way to bring more humanity into health care is to care better for Black Americans. Villarosa began her research on health issues plaguing Black Americans by exploring the abysmal maternal mortality rates for Black women. From there she discovered a myriad of ways that American health care fails Black Americans. Under the Skin was chosen as a New York Times top ten books of the year and Oprah called it “A stunning exposé of why Black people in our society ‘live sicker and die quicker’—an eye-opening game changer.” (To read my article on Under the Skin in The American Journal of Nursing, click here.)
Looking for an inspiring story?
Sisters of Mokama by Jyoti Thottam
I read Jyoti Thottam’s Sisters of Mokama: The Pioneering Women Who Brought Hope and Healing to India in galley form to provide a blurb (my blurb is on the book) and once I started I couldn’t put it down. Thottam tells quite a story. In the 1940’s, six nuns from Kentucky went to one of the poorest parts of India to establish a hospital and provide health care to the local population. Against all odds, they succeeded, and the book serves as a testament to their commitment to service and their incredible dedication to their patients. Near the end of Sisters of Mokama, readers discover why Thottam chose to tell this particular story—it’s definitely worth the wait to find out, and I won’t give the secret away here.
That’s one event you can attend and 6 book recommendations, if you’re interested. I’m curious which books readers might propose for a Humanity & Healthcare series. Please leave a comment if you feel inspired—it could be a book choice, or simply a thought on writing about healthcare, or health care and humanity.
Hugs to all,
Theresa
I just opened “Black Fatigue” and am already engrossed. I am looking forward to the “In Pain” discussion on the 14th. On a personal note, my husband had a surgical procedure last week that involved excavating bone in his face (shiver). Contrary to Mari’s experience, he was given one day of Percocet, and spent unnecessary time in severe pain due to prescriber reluctance. We did prevail, and he is fine now, but it was not a smooth process to find relief. I am wondering whether some sort of algorithm exists or can be developed to match dosage and duration to clinical procedure. There has to be a place in healthcare for effective pain relief.
Congratulations on the new gig and thank you for the book recommendations! I am especially interested in the book about opiates and in Under the Skin.
You are right that healthcare providers need to walk a fine line on opioids. In Europe they are given in hospitals, but patients must be off the drugs in order to go home. In the US, by contrast, some people who really need them can’t get them, while in other cases they are handed out like aspirin.
Casey had her wisdom teeth out in August, and the nurse sent her home with a prescription for Percocet. For wisdom teeth! I said, “Oh, I don’t think we’ll be needing this one” and got a lecture. I took the scrips to the pharmacy (they were all on the same sheet of paper) and told the pharmacist that I didn’t want the Percocet. He looked at me, nodded, and said, “I think that’s wise.”