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Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Falling into the nursing profession, Kristy Chambers has spent almost a decade working as a nurse, with patients ranging from drug addicts through cancer patients to those in Emergency. Along the way she met some wonderfully brave people. As for others, well, you'll need to read her book to really believe it.

'Chambers is a new and idiosyncratic voice in memoir writing. Her tone is dark, her humour black, but there is honesty, heart and compassion in Get Well Soon! She shows us more than ever the incredible work done by nurses and the challenges they face.' (From the publisher's website)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • St Lucia, Indooroopilly - St Lucia area, Brisbane - North West, Brisbane, Queensland,: University of Queensland Press , 2012 .
      person or book cover
      Image courtesy of University of Queensland Press.
      Extent: 235p.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 27 August 2012.
      ISBN: 80702248238 (ebook : pdf), 9780702248252 (ebook : kindle), 9780702248245 (ebook : epub), 9780702239205 (pbk.)

Works about this Work

Narratives of the “Not-So-Good Nurse” : Rewriting Nursing’s Virtue Script Margaret McAlister , Donna Lee Brien , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Hecate , vol. 41 no. 1-2 2015; (p. 79-97)
'The prolonged commemoration of the ANZAC centenary has flooded popular culture with images of the self-sacrificing, ever-reliable, ablycompetent and often feisty, forthright, female nurse. This notion of ‘the good nurse” is prevalent and promulgates what Nelson and Gordon (in The Complexities of Care: Nursing Reconsidered, New York, 2006) term a “virtue script” for, and about, nurses. Following this scripting, nurses portray themselves, and are portrayed, as angelic, sweet, kind carers. This positive feedback loop, ironically, traps nursing and nurses (who are still predominantly women) into a continual one-dimensional, unrealistic and de-humanised portrayal. Nurses are undermined and silenced when only one aspect of their identity is understood. There are, however, other representations of nursing, which offer important counter-points to the “good nurse” which, when examined closely, can yield a more nuanced, albeit sometimes shockingly gritty, realistic reading. Re/reading recent auto/biographies of nurses to move beyond the virtue script reveals how a more nuanced, cosmopolitan reading of these nurses and their profession can promote a clearer understanding of how contemporary nursing identity can be understood, characterised and developed.' (Publication abstract)
Kristy Chambers 2012 single work column
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , October no. 223 2012; (p. 5)
Books of the Week Tanee Mangan , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 7 October 2012; (p. 37)

— Review of Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse Kristy Chambers , 2012 single work autobiography
Memories of Lives Found and Lost Alistair Jones , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 29-30 September 2012; (p. 25)

— Review of Staunch : Ward of the State Ginger Briggs , 2012 single work novel ; Playing House Amy Choi , 2012 single work biography ; Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse Kristy Chambers , 2012 single work autobiography
In Short : Non-Fiction Fiona Capp , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 September 2012; (p. 22) The Saturday Age , 15 September 2012; (p. 30) The Sydney Morning Herald , 15-16 September 2012; (p. 41)

— Review of Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse Kristy Chambers , 2012 single work autobiography ; The True Story of Ned Kelly's Last Stand : New Revelations Unearthed about the Bloody Siege at Glenrowan P. Terry , 2012 single work biography
Untitled Jane Barry , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 1-2 September 2012; (p. 23)

— Review of Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse Kristy Chambers , 2012 single work autobiography
'This Job Requires You To Have a Certain Detachment. Otherwise You Would Go Home Every Day and Curl Up in a Ball Crying' Mike Bruce , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 9 September 2012; (p. 12-13)

— Review of Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse Kristy Chambers , 2012 single work autobiography
In Short : Non-Fiction Fiona Capp , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 September 2012; (p. 22) The Saturday Age , 15 September 2012; (p. 30) The Sydney Morning Herald , 15-16 September 2012; (p. 41)

— Review of Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse Kristy Chambers , 2012 single work autobiography ; The True Story of Ned Kelly's Last Stand : New Revelations Unearthed about the Bloody Siege at Glenrowan P. Terry , 2012 single work biography
Memories of Lives Found and Lost Alistair Jones , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 29-30 September 2012; (p. 25)

— Review of Staunch : Ward of the State Ginger Briggs , 2012 single work novel ; Playing House Amy Choi , 2012 single work biography ; Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse Kristy Chambers , 2012 single work autobiography
Books of the Week Tanee Mangan , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 7 October 2012; (p. 37)

— Review of Get Well Soon! : My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse Kristy Chambers , 2012 single work autobiography
Kristy Chambers 2012 single work column
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , October no. 223 2012; (p. 5)
Narratives of the “Not-So-Good Nurse” : Rewriting Nursing’s Virtue Script Margaret McAlister , Donna Lee Brien , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Hecate , vol. 41 no. 1-2 2015; (p. 79-97)
'The prolonged commemoration of the ANZAC centenary has flooded popular culture with images of the self-sacrificing, ever-reliable, ablycompetent and often feisty, forthright, female nurse. This notion of ‘the good nurse” is prevalent and promulgates what Nelson and Gordon (in The Complexities of Care: Nursing Reconsidered, New York, 2006) term a “virtue script” for, and about, nurses. Following this scripting, nurses portray themselves, and are portrayed, as angelic, sweet, kind carers. This positive feedback loop, ironically, traps nursing and nurses (who are still predominantly women) into a continual one-dimensional, unrealistic and de-humanised portrayal. Nurses are undermined and silenced when only one aspect of their identity is understood. There are, however, other representations of nursing, which offer important counter-points to the “good nurse” which, when examined closely, can yield a more nuanced, albeit sometimes shockingly gritty, realistic reading. Re/reading recent auto/biographies of nurses to move beyond the virtue script reveals how a more nuanced, cosmopolitan reading of these nurses and their profession can promote a clearer understanding of how contemporary nursing identity can be understood, characterised and developed.' (Publication abstract)
Last amended 25 Sep 2012 11:03:42
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