Reading is nothing new for nursing students. Nurses in training read textbooks in classrooms, but it’s not the same as reading stories that speak to the heart. Oftentimes, biographies and nonfiction books written by nurses are more interesting and action-packed than medical texts. Many of these books and essays about nurses’ lives are based on what happens in the real world.
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Here are some medical reads that can inspire you to think about what it means to be a nurse and remind you of the reason you chose the profession in the first place.
When Breath Becomes Air
Even though a nurse didn’t write this book, it was written by medical student Paul Kalanithi on his last reflections about life, death, his experience as a neurosurgeon in training, and what makes life worth living all while navigating stage IV lung cancer.
Kalanithi died in 2015, but his biography still paints a vivid picture of a patient’s experiences dealing with a terminal illness that can cut their life short.
Duty Calls: Lessons Learned From an Unexpected Life of Service
Dr. Antonia Novello is a trailblazer in public health who created a name for herself by becoming the first Hispanic US Surgeon General in the 90s and serving as New York State Commissioner of Health during 9/11.
In her memoir, she details how her childhood struggles with congenital megacolon and medical school experiences shaped her to become the healthcare leader she is today. Minority nurses will resonate with her story of adversity, advocacy, and resilience.
Fast Facts for the Triage Nurse, Second Edition
This is a comprehensive, easy-to-read guide for students who want to become triage nurses. The book covers real examples of what nurses have faced in the field, with procedures and protocols you can use. You’llalso learn how to address specific patient situations involving older adults, human trafficking victims, military personnel, and more.
Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World
Nurses are the backbone of healthcare today and have always been crucial to society’s health and healing. Journalist Sarah DiGregorio highlights in Taking Care the importance of nurses in today’s world, pointing out the cultural history of nursing and describing the ways nurses have had to adapt while understaffed and undervalued. Nurses in training can feel inspired by learning how nurses have changed the communities around them through their work.
Being Mortal
Written by surgeon Atul Gawande, this book can help nurses learn about how aging impacts the body when it comes to mental health, happiness, and quality of life for elderly adults.
It’s also a deeper look into how medicine fails by providing solutions to end-of-life care. Nurses reading this can empathize with patients’ struggles in hospice care and their personal experiences navigating assisted living and palliative care.
Emotional Triage: A Nurse’s Guide to Overcoming Burnout and Compassion Fatigue
Burnout is a real phenomenon that affects many nurses, and finding the right cure is tricky. Olivia Lovejoy, RN, gives practical advice to nurses who care by sharing her experience with compassion fatigue and how to manage one’s mental health as a busy nurse.
Your First Year As a Nurse: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional
Being a new nurse is challenging, but this self-help guide can help newbies feel confident with tried and true tips from Donna Cardillo, the Inspiration Nurse with a 30-year nursing career. In her book, Cardillo explains self-care tools and skills nursing students can develop while transitioning into a post-COVID healthcare space.
A Nurse’s Guide to Women’s Mental Health
Students specializing in mental health can read this guide by Michele R. Davidson, PhD, CNM, CFN, RN, to learn how mental health issues impact women. Future nurses can dive deeper into topics that may not be discussed in the classroom, such as infertility and its psychological implications, antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum psychological disorders. This book also includes how mental health affects disabled women, lesbian and transgender women, and female veterans.
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