Theresa Brown's Essay 'When No One Is On Call'

Theresa Brown in her piece, “When no one is on call”, argues the importance of having adequate nurse staffing. She addresses the issues that understaffed hospitals face. More specifically, Brown discusses how crucial nurses are to the health of each patient. Brown builds an argument through the use of statistical evidence, emotional anecdotes that appeal to her audience, and logical reasoning describing the benefits of a fuller nursing staff.
To begin, Brown implements statistical data in order to add power to her argument. Furthermore, the author specifically mentions the number of incidents involving patients and understaffed hospitals. For example, Brown highlights the effects of an understaffed hospital when she quotes a University of Pennsylvania study: “20,000 people died a year because they were in hospitals with overworked nurses”. In other words, a lack of nurses results in loss of life. . Brown’s use of evidence builds her credibility and effectively conveys her argument. …show more content…
Her use of anecdotes creates a connection with her audience that gives her audience a more personal tone. Experiencing, a patient being neglected due to understaffing, Brown tells her story. According to her memory, a patient once was having issues breathing, yet could not receive proper care which led to the patient going into a critical state. Brown recalls, “Half an hour later, though, the patient need an emergency team to revive her” (3). Thus Brown’s audience feels sympathy for the patient and sees the solution that Brown suggests. The author’s argument that there should be more nurses in hospitals is therefore sympathised with the