For anyone who might use an emergency department in their lifetime, "Yes, I Know You're Dying" describes the reality behind the high-end architecture, modern artwork, gourmet food, and customer service that is called healthcare today. "Yes, I Know You're Dying" will give you true stories of what emergency healthcare is really like right now and how politics affect your treatment. The tears you will shed and the frustrations you will come to share are going to open your eyes to America's healthcare.

In my years of nursing, I can count on one hand the number of times I have called in sick. The day after Joshy's death was one of them. I cried all the way home that night, and I woke up the next morning and cried some more. I was so emotionally distraught that I did not have the mental or emotional capacity to work another 12-hour shift that soon after bearing witness to such a horrifying atrocity. That was my first hard lesson in separating myself from my work. People wonder why we appear heartless sometimes. I assure you we are not heartless. We are defending ourselves from heartache.

Author Leigh Abilland is an accomplished certified emergency nurse who has been practicing nursing since 2001. She graduated with her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing from a university in Kansas. Leigh currently resides in a small town in Colorado with her husband, three kids, and two dogs. Her years of experience in the field of emergency nursing have helped her identify her frustrations of blending healthcare politics, the business world and what is supposed to be a caring and nurturing profession.