Where Night Is Day: The World of the ICU (The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work) Hardcover – March 15, 2013

This book has many things to recommend it, not least its imagery. A respiratory therapist holds a sputum specimen in the air “like a wine taster examining a cork”; the part in a Hopi woman’s hair is “as clean and straight as the narrow dirt roads that disappear off the highway to distant pueblos”; a Sikh doctor wears a turban “coiled like a fat snake on his head”; a dialysis machine “looks like a Zamboni”; Route 66 runs next to I-40 “like an old skin a snake has shed”; a patient is a passenger way below deck on a sinking ship, “trying to get out,” groping “down dark corridors and up dark stairs…”Read "Where Night Is Day" primarily for its insights into modern medicine, but take time to appreciate the quality of Mr. Kelly’s writing.

I retired a year ago, but this book put me right back in the ICU where I worked for 25 years. I don't know how much of it a lay person or even a regular nurse would understand, but it was a welcome read to me because I was afraid of forgetting everything I had learned after retiring. I realized I still know all that stuff and could go back if I wanted.

An excellent book, and an excellent description of what goes on in the ICU. Written from the point of view of the care giver, accurate case presentations and descriptions of the decisions made by nurses, Doc's and patient's and their families. What many of these patients are faced with, and the work done by the people at the bedside.I recommend the book to those finding the material interesting, and can testify to the accuracy of the material as a working ICU nurse. Bravo James you wrote a great book.

This is a fantastic book; I have been a critical care nurse for years and recognize within James Kelly's book that it perfectly captures the emotional drama and real world of the ICU. It reveals nursing as it has never been revealed before - how we talk and how we think. It also shows a deep understanding of what families experience and the courage they show. The writing is very poetic and moving.

Very surprising good read, I thought it might be bloody etc. It was not at all, Jim talks about his patient and their families in a very thoughtful way. Very interesting.I would surely recommend this book.

A well written book with many details about patients, families, and physicians. The focus on nursing is from a young nursing professional's viewpoint. As the author grows in the profession, the nursing culture will be more evident in the writing.

ICU night nurses are unique. As an ICU for over 40 years, I appreciate the author's clear and so true stories of life and death in the ICU. He touches on every facet of the technology, politics, humor and heartbreak,and joy we see every day in a critical care environment. This is nursing @ its finest. I face booked my ICU friends to recommend this book to them.

I spent two weeks in an ICU and was curious about how the day evolves. I found it difficult to keep up with who the patience were over the course of the book. The language was difficult for me as a lay person to understand. But I think the authors feelings, perceptions and humanity shine through.