The Good Nurse

The Good Nurse by Charles Graeber is a real life crime novel that focuses on the nurse Charles Cullen. Charles Cullen was a nurse who was convicted of (admittedly) over forty murders all of which were patients that were in his care. Charles Graebar, a journalist and author, was the first person to get a sit down interview with Cullen and he ended up writing a book on this man's early life and nursing career. In the beginning of the novel, the readers are introduced to Charles Cullen as a grown man as Charles Graeber looks back upon his entire life. Charles Cullen's early life was very rough for a child and young adult. Cullen grew up in a large family of eight children. His father died shortly after Cullen's birth, leaving his mother to be

Charles Cullen's behavior contradicted the behavior of all of the "good nurses" out there. Although he was a good nurse in the beginning of his career, Cullen quickly became savage and began murdering patients. After this hit the news, many people saw him for who he truly was, a psychopath. Graeber writes, "The media quickly dubbed Charlie 'the Angel of Death'." (Graeber 2013 pg. 255 paragraph 1) Many nurses can be considered an angel by a patient and their family, but no nurse should be considered an Angel of Death. This quote truly shows how the world perceived and continues to perceive Charles

The descriptions and wording as well as the actual events will be per stately etched and burned into my brain. Charles Graeber is a very brave man and author for putting words and an image to Charles Cullen's story and bringing to the attention of the public that the medical system is not as safe as it seems. I personally recommend The Good Nurse because although Charles Cullen was not a good man, those who worked hard helped to put him in prison are brave and deserve a lot of respect for their work. This novel will help future generations realize how the health care system has changed and help them to recognize it as an ever changing