In the 1950s, nurses served as handmaidens to the physician; by the start of the new millennium, they had become admired independent practitioners. Nightingale Tales is a peek into that transition, as told by a nurse who lived it. Each chapter is a stand-alone story depicting the ridiculous mores nurses have been subjected to over the years, the archaic equipment they've had to struggle with, and the changes in the profession, brought about by time, the feminist movement, and advances in technology. Told with humor and compassion, the stories of Nightingale Tales provides an unusual?and highly entertaining?window into the world of medicine from the mid-twentieth century to the present.

Lynn Dow, is a registered nurse who spent fifty years in the profession in a variety of positions?staff nurse, head nurse, teacher, and mentor?at large medical centers on both the East and West Coasts. Now retired, she has finally found the time to write about her experiences. She lives with her husband in San Francisco.