In honor of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Loyola University New Orleans has published a book featuring first-person accounts from nurses who worked to save lives in hospitals and healthcare centers along the Gulf Coast in the wake of the disaster.
The book — Voices of Angels: Disaster Lessons from Katrina Nurses — was written by the founding director of Loyola's Health Care System Management Program, Barbara Gail Tumulty, PhD, BSN, who died earlier this year, and nursing instructor John Batty, RN, MSN.
With its photographs, first-person accounts, information boxes, Joint Commission recommendations and end-of-chapter lesson reminders, the book is designed to help emergency responders perform in extreme crisis conditions and disasters. It also includes thoughts on preparing nurses for disaster response, a chapter devoted to the immediate and long-term effects of the Katrina disaster on nurses and the city of New Orleans, and an epilogue, written 10 years after Katrina.
First-person accounts were gathered from nurses at the following New Orleans hospitals: Charity Hospital, Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital, Tulane Medical Center, University Hospital (now known as University Medical Center New Orleans) and the VA Medical Center.
Accounts are also included from nurses at Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson, La., the Lambeth House retirement community in New Orleans and the Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge.
To learn more about the book, click here.
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