Pat Carroll has written four books — three for nurses, and one trade book for the Perigee imprint of Penguin. Her first book, The Surgical Nurse’s Managed Care Manual won the prestigious American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year award. Community Health Nursing: A Practical Guide was the first nursing book to include content relating to bioterrorism after the September 11 attacks. Both Community Health Nursing and Nursing Leadership and Management were recognized with awards of excellence from the New England Chapter of the American Medical Writers Association
What Nurses Know and Doctors Don’t Have Time to Tell You was Pat’s first trade paperback. The Publishers Weekly review read
In this useful home healthcare guide, Carroll offers the Insight of a nurse to help readers understand and treat common medical conditions such as skin rashes and joint pains. Rather than following the general practice of organizing a self-care guide around specific diagnoses — which, she argues, makes such guides “hard to use unless you can diagnose yourself correctly first” — she lists the topics by symptoms, starting with the most common medical complaint: headaches. She then works through topics like eye Irritation, toothaches,
constipation and dizziness. In each section, she explains what the symptoms look and feel like, answers FAQs, and decisively Informs readers when the symptoms might be serious enough to warrant a call to a healthcare pro or a trip to the emergency room. The book also Includes Information on dealing with Injuries like sprains and cuts, choosing and using medications, fighting through the difficulties of the healthcare system and having surgery. Through it all, the tone is accessible, friendly and easy-to-understand-just as a one might hope a good nurse would be.