Surprised by Nothing
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Product Details
Publisher: GFB
Release Date: August 18, 2025
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook
ISBN: HC: 978-1-964721-61-3; PB: 978-1-964721-60-6; EB: 978-1-964721-59-0
Trim: 6 x 9
Page Count: 278
Surviving the ER World of Worst-Case Scenarios
Kathryn Kyker
Kathryn Kyker used to faint at the sight of blood. But after three decades as an ER social worker, blood no longer fazed her—and neither did anything else.
Kathryn took her job at a regional Georgia hospital because she was desperate for health insurance. Although she found the work meaningful and became the hospital’s first ER social work manager, the high-stakes environment left her unable to cry, hypervigilant about safety, and detached from family and friends.
With her inner emotional landscape sabotaged, Kathryn set out on a quest to regain her relationship with curiosity, joy, and the bonds that make us human. The result is a reflective interrogation of the US health care system, a meditation on social work, and a thoughtful inquiry into the emotional responsibilities we have to ourselves—and each other.
Full of compassion and humorous insight, Surprised by Nothing is a compelling reminder of how to live a creative and nurturing life, even in the face of the world’s random, devastating hardships.
About the Author
Kathryn Kyker spent twenty-nine years as an ER social worker. A licensed MSW, she received her bachelor’s degree in social work from Western Carolina University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Georgia. Kathryn received her hospital’s Emergency Medical Service Special Achievement Award in 2008. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Salvation South, Boom Magazine, and Flagpole. Two short films have been produced from her screenplays. She lives in Georgia and North Carolina, where she writes, bikes, and curates a summer film series sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UGA.
Visit the author’s website at kathrynkyker.wordpress.com