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A
Laugh a Day Won't Keep This Nurse Practitioner Away
Live a Little, Laugh a
Lot. Barb Bancroft, NP.
2003. $25, 400 pages,
barbbancroft.com.
Reviewed by
Priscilla P. Merrill, NP, a family nurse practitioner who practices at
Dover Internal Medicine and at the occupational health company Healthy
Achievers in Northwood, N.H.
Live a Little, Laugh a Lot is a handy gem for busy NPs.
In fact, it's just what the nurse practitioner ordered. I was thrilled
to find a humorous NP text since I deeply believe that we need to laugh
to stay sane in our line of work. As the author (a pediatric nurse
practitioner and national speaker) points out, belly laughing burns as
many calories per minute as rowing strenuously!
I highly recommend this unique compendium of fun facts.
Consider it light, intriguing food for thought and soul.
The book is easy to pick up and put down in a hurry,
providing a tidbit of wisdom at each glance. It is full of trivia,
"mnemonics for mnemcompoops," and facts you never thought you'd want to
know, such as how many bugs we unwittingly eat in our lifetime
I was engaged at the start, eager to turn the page for
another guffaw. Some of the blurbs will surely score you popularity
points at dinner parties where fellow medics are in attendance!
I learned that licking wounds is dangerous and not
recommended. How many children do we see do this? Now we can tell them
why they shouldn't. I learned that plastic diapers on little boys can
affect fertility by warming the testes and impacting sperm count. And am
I alone in being surprised that the testicles o a blue whale are about
2.5 feet long and weigh about 110 pounds each? As you can see, I really
had a ball with this book.
Amid the funnies are some interesting historical facts
and fascinating medical explanations. An example is why you should
always whisper into the left ear if you want someone to remember your
sweet nothing. I don't have space to tell you why, so you'll have to buy
the book to find out.
After a particularly vicious gray-hair day, I happened to
read one particularly helpful snippet. It instructs you to purchase a
Johnson & Johnson rectal thermometer, open the package, and read the
insert, which states, "Every rectal thermometer made by Johnson &
Johnson is person-ally tested." Then, you close your eyes and repeat, "I
am so glad I don't work in quality control at J&J." Someone truly has a
job worse than yours!
The author has a great sense of humor that keeps the
reader captivated. I couldn't agree more with the last sentence of the
book: "You don't stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old
because you stop laughing." Preserve your sanity, and read this book.
“A
husband and wife in Beijing exchanged organs in a 19-hour operation...
Husband Wang received wife’s Hou's female parts, and wife Hou received
Wang's male organs in a true scenario of Hou Wanged Who?”
Funny?
Yes — and best of all, it's true. Award-winning speaker Barb Bancroft,
RN, MSN, PNP, has collected the odd, the bizarre and the downright
hysterical (which comes from the Greek word for uterus, by the
way) in this wild and wacky volume of medical trivia. And you will laugh
until you cry reading this book.
Did
you know that vibrators were among the first home appliances that used
electricity? Apparently the Victorians weren’t quite as boring in the
bedroom as we’ve been lead to believe. But everyone should be especially
careful around the bedroom: a 412-pound woman once fell out of bed, hit
her head, knocked herself unconscious, and suffocated when her enormous
breasts fell across her nose and mouth. Another deadly bedroom fact: a
middle-aged man is more likely to die of a heart attack while in the
arms of younger lover — particularly one who happens not to be his wife
or regular companion. (Wives: you’ll want to be sure to mention this
fact frequently to your spouse.)
Afraid
of public restrooms? Well, maybe you should be more afraid of where you
work, as a typical office desk has 21,000 bacteria per square inch,
versus a toilet seat with 400. And the average dishrag has a million
more times bacteria than a toilet seat... Live a little, Laugh a
Lot makes an excellent book for trivia buffs and for speakers
who could use a few off-the-wall anecdotes to liven up a presentation.
As Barb Bancroft so deftly demonstrates, “Truth is always stranger than
fiction.”— C.APPEL •
Fearless Reviews.com
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