The Comfort Garden: Tales from the Trauma Unit
On  rare occasions, a book appears in print that has the capacity to captivate and to deeply touch the soul of the reader. Such books emerge from an author whose motivation for writing comes from experience with life-altering events and the need to tell the story of these events is both compelling and poignant. Laurie Barkin is such a writer.Her bookThe Comfort Gardenis about the plight of people who have survived staggering trauma long enough to get to a hospital. The real-life stories unfold to highlight the astonishing impact of trauma on patients, family members, friends, and the caregivers who treat them. The narrative is from her perspective  and in her voice as a psychiatric nurse who works with those who have sustained unimaginable injuries. The context for the experiences is a high-powered urban trauma unit that serves the breadth of humanity. The stories are exemplars of compassion in dealing with misery, courage in the face of grief, and of human determination holding hands with fateful  destiny. The reader is invited in as a participant in the stories. The writing skillfully draws you to the bedside, has you sit with the rawness of the experience of loved ones, and provides a chance to listen  in on the conversations about life and death that are common to the way  of life on a trauma unit. The reader has the opportunity to understand the complex and challenging experiences of all involved: patients, nurses, surgeons, social workers, physical therapists, and others. Each participant provides texture to the fabric of the trauma unit experience.This  book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the intricate and sometimes cruel challenges of trauma and the path to healing. Ms. Barkin's work makes a great contribution to the heart of understanding the experience of both the healer and the healed. Her writing comes from a place where there are no veneers to hide the stark reality of situations, which she so artfully describes. One cannot walk away from this book without being transformed by its content. As the providers from the trauma unit often say, and as she has been able to richly articulate,"It is as real as it gets..."Geoffry Phillips McEnany, PhD, APRN,BC Professor of Nursing, University of Massachusetts, LowellPsychiatric/Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist Private Practice in Boston.