“The American Nurse” is the perfect holiday gift

Thinking about holiday gifts for those we love in the profession, we couldn’t help but be reminded of Carolyn Jones’ gorgeous new book, The American Nurse, out in late October from publishing house Welcome Books.

Jones is a well-known photographer, famous for her socially proactive medium-format portraits, but also is a noted documentary filmmaker. She is perhaps best known for her book Living Proof: Courage in the Face of AIDS. She also founded and travels the world with a non-profit called 100 People Foundation.

The gorgeous coffee table tome (which weighs in at 4 lbs and had 180 pages) was the cover story for the September issue of the American Journal of Nursing, where many of you may have already read about it. But for those who aren’t as familiar, American Nurse contains 75 portraits, interviews and biographies of nurses in, well, America.

The book is a result of the American Nurse Project, launched by Fresenius Kabi, a leader in infusion therapy, IV generic drugs and clinical nutrition. Jones and her producer, Lisa Frank, were brought on to bring the book, which celebrates the role of nursing in today’s world, to life.

Making sure to really cross the country, they went from rural Eastern Kentucky to Florida to New Orleans (where they talked to nurses about Hurricane Katrina) to Nebraska to Wisconsin to San Francisco to Chicago and beyond.

Here’s how one nurse reviewed the book on Amazon:

“You don’t have to be a nurse to enjoy reading this book. Anyone who knows a nurse, has been cared for by a nurse, or is a nurse will love these nurses telling their stories of why they do what they do. I laughed and cried and wanted to read more. I am a nurse and have read many books and seen many TV shows and movies portraying nurses in many ways. This book finally captures the nurse as who they are and what they do everyday. It’s just an uplifting and validating read. I can’t recommend it highly enough.” — Michelle08