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When I Grow Up I Want To Be… a Nurse! Review

Amber’s Accidental Journey

Reviewed by David Savage

When I Grow Up I Want To Be… a Nurse! is the latest instalment from the When I Grow Up series.

Amber is a young schoolgirl and when finally persuaded to play football (or soccer as in the book) she finds she really enjoys it and is glad she took it up. During her first competitive game she has an accident that sees her break her arm which first requires a visit to the school nurse and then to the hospital.

Amber soon discovers that hospitals are nothing to be frightened of and that everybody who works there is kind, caring and very hard working. All her fears and misconceptions about hospitals and nursing are all put to rest finally leading her to the realisation that they do a good job and as she likes helping other people would like to be a nurse when she grows up.

Although this book is written for the American children’s market it easily translates to the UK market as nursing is a universal occupation. Although some of the terms make be slightly different it doesn’t take anything away from the nursing system and dispels myths about nurses only being female, shows the different types of nurses (depending on which hospital department they work in) and shows that hospitals are nothing to be afraid of.

While the story is of a girl who breaks her arm playing football and her subsequent visit to hospital it also has information pages explaining the differences between various types of nurses, what functions nurses provide, what happens in an emergency room and explains what triage is, introduces what vitals are, a brief and simple explanation of how x-rays work and a brief history of nursing with the world’s most infamous nurse, Florence Nightingale.

This is a beautifully written story with great illustrations that introduces children the caring nursing profession. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series but if they all like the nursing book they would make a great series of books to have in schools to introduce different career paths to children.

I read the book with my nearly 4 year old niece which led her to ask more questions about nursing as well as enjoying the story.

A great story about overcoming fears and misconceptions while introducing a rewarding career path about unselfishly caring for others.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £8.59 (paperback)

Available to buy from Amazon here.

5Star

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