Health care is one of the forever burning issues in our modern American life and, despite the efforts of many intelligent and talented men and women, the strides that have been made are often under assault and many are still pining away for effective care. Meghan FitzGerald has been on the front lines of that battle in her service as a nurse, but she continues to fight for a better way in her position as an educator. She has seen the health care system from every side; as a daughter, as a nurse, as a member of the corporate health care world, and from the classroom. Her book Ascending Davos, however, has more to offer than that alone.
The book would be a lesser work if it did not include her personal story. When I say personal, I mean that in the most emphatic terms. She takes us into the very heart of her life. One gets the sense reading these pages that FitzGerald is in a period of reflection about her travels from the days she spent as a nurse working in a dialysis center, her hard won and inspiring climb into the halls of corporate power, and those she met along the way. No one could deny her. Another impressive aspect, if not the most impressive, is that she remained the same person in her heart despite every change life threw her way. Her compassion shines through these pages just as much as her personal drive and , if anything, has deepened as the years unfold.
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49149278-ascending-davos
She writes it in accessible prose style adult readers of any level of can easily grasp onto. She wants to communicate, not lecture, and even her discussion of the principles she thinks are essential for effective leadership and success never come across as preaching to readers. It, ultimately, seems like she has written this book for readers just as much as she has written it for herself. She aims to give back to the world with this book, to share what she has learned, and it is difficult to finish this text without feeling like it has illuminated you in some fashion.
It is a brief read, remarkably less than two hundred pages long, and sparkles from beginning to end. She includes a healthy amount of research to underline her writing about health care, but it never has a scholarly air despite her academic background. The structure she adopts for the book likewise makes it an digestible reading experience for readers. Meghan FitzGerald’s voyage through the storms and rewards of her personal and professional life is laid out here in exquisite detail and many readers will finish the book eager to read it again. This is, perhaps, the ultimate compliment you can pay any writer. We should be happy there are powerful voices like hers heard above the din advocating for those who need help and Ascending Davos will stand for many years to come as one of the best chronicles of the health care issue available for anyone interested in the subject.
Kim Muncie
Kim-
You know me. Thank you for the honest and generous review.
I had 300 pages in me but was told no one would read it. And I tend to write more like a Daily News headline writer than an academic but so far no one found the book over their head.
However my goal was to hit their heart and help them climb their own mountain.
All the best
Meg (the author)