Prison Nurse

Mayhem, Murder and Medicine

Non-Fiction - Memoir
128 Pages
Reviewed on 10/24/2019
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Keyla Damaer for Readers' Favorite

Prison Nurse: Mayhem, Murder and Medicine by Ellen Kane is a memoir of the author's experiences as a nurse working in a correctional center. Through her personal experiences and memories of events that happened to others, the reader learns about bad men doing bad things, but mostly good men doing bad things. As a divorced woman and a single mother, Kane found this job close to her heart, at first in substitution for another nurse on maternity leave and for the night shift. Even though she was not enthusiastic about the opening offered, she accepted knowing that once inside she had more chances for other openings. As a matter of fact, she was right: after some time she moved to the evening shift.

As someone who has worked as a volunteer in the correctional system of my country, I was delighted to read this memoir by Ellen Kane. Prison Nurse: Mayhem, Murder and Medicine is a recollection of real events that happened between 1985 and 1995 in the Stillwater State Prison in Minnesota. In a refreshing style, Kane introduces the reader to a system of locked doors and bars where life is not easy, not only for the permanent residents but also for the employees. Through her eyes, we witness the evolution of the American correctional system from rehabilitation centers to warehouses, to stocking inmates like in an overbooked hotel. Despite the tough subject, I read the book in two days and was almost disappointed when I realized it was over.