Best Nursing Books

As our aging population increases, nurses are in high demand. In fact, it is estimated that, worldwide, there is a shortfall of around 10 million nurses still needed in the industry.

Being a good nurse requires a positive and caring attitude, good education, and a proactive approach to learning. Medical technology is constantly evolving, and it’s important that, as a nurse, you evolve with it so that you can ensure that you’re providing the best care that each and every patient deserves.

The ability to deliver exceptional, patient-centered care is vital in improving patient experience and satisfaction. After all, it is very likely that you will spend more time with the patient than anyone else, and will, therefore, leave the biggest impression on them.

Reading is a fantastic way to learn and improve your nursing skill set. A book allows you to learn on your own time and at your own pace. New information that you learn can then be shared and utilized in the workplace immediately.

Unfortunately, with so many choices available, it is easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to choosing the best nursing books available. Where do you even start? How can you tell the good books from the bad? How will you know which books will be the most helpful to you?

Well, having spoken to some of the top professionals in the industry, we were able to compile a list of the best nursing books available right now. They are highly recommended reads for all types of nurses.

Some of these books are essential reading for nursing students, while others enable you to gain a deeper insight into new and improved best practices in the clinic. Read what our experts had to say about them to find out if they contain what you need in order to inspire you in your chosen career and, ultimately, improve your performance.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

Another form of non-fiction heartbreak. This is a timeless look at how most of America survives. You cannot be an empathetic business leader without this lens.

Angela Pham

Content Strategist/Facebook

The Senility of Vladimir P.: A Novel

The Senility of Vladimir P.: A Novel by Michael Honig [is] really funny. Takes your mind off the business world, it puts you in a different reality, sort of like Soviet Russia, Communist Russia. I’m from there, so makes sense.

Dmitry Dragilev

Founder/JustReachOut & PR That Converts

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

President Obama is spending his Hawaiian vacation playing golf, getting together with high school friends and reading a handful of dark novels set in foreign lands, according to a book list released by the White House Wednesday. The presidential reading list includes [...] two works of non-fiction for the trip: [...] "Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End" by Dr. Atul Gawande.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come

Richard Preston’s red zone—beset by ethical, medical, and epidemiological quandaries—shows us at our worst and at our best. This is a story about people, not pathogens, but, even as Preston focuses on one group of clinicians, nurses, and scientists at an underresourced hospital in West Africa, he makes devastatingly clear the worldwide fragility of our public-health systems. Global inequities have epidemiological consequences. This chronicle is haunting, yet not without hope. In spare, gripping prose, he illuminates how our interlinked age can make for enormous vulnerability—but also resilience.

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Author, Professor Of Philosophy And Law at NYU

Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved

When Bowler, a professor at Duke Divinity School, is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, she sets out to understand why it happened. Is it a test of her character? The result is a heartbreaking, surprisingly funny memoir about faith and coming to grips with your own mortality.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation

I’m currently reading Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin, which tells the 60-year story of how one industrial company’s pollutants have been linked to various cancers in a small New Jersey town. I chose to read this book because I’m very interested in learning the origin of diseases and cancers within the human body.

Adam Haritan

Founder/Learn Your Land

The New Geography of Jobs

As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

Reinventing Organizations

First, a word on career paths. In time, I realised that career paths are like one-way streets. Magic happens in unexplored territories. Plus life is how you choose to live every moment, every day. So today, rather than building a career, I prefer to make lateral moves in life, working with great people and being part of ambitious projects impacting the world. There are a few books that got me here: [...] Frederic Laloux "Reinventing Organizations".

Cristina Riesen

Founder/We Are Play Lab

A Farewell to Arms

For non-business, I’ve loved so many different books that it’s hard to pick a favorite. Recently, I’ve enjoyed The Art of Fielding and Americanah, and I love classics like A Farewell to Arms and Lord of the Flies.

Julia Enthoven

Co-Founder/Kapwing

Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation

Here's a list of the top books that taught and inspired me this year. I go back to Sam Walton's book frequently and was struck, this year, by some common principles between Sam and General McChrystal. It seems they learned some similar things about what works when it comes to leading teams. For example, fostering a shared consciousness and empowering execution delivers results. Greg Foran shared The Good Jobs Strategy with me and I see a connection to Tim Brown's Change by Design. We are making progress in designing a "system" for our associates that results in opportunities for them and an even better work environment.

Doug McMillon

CEO/Walmart

Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups

Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups – Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000: I met Jason Calacanis in the mid-1990s when he was peddling his Silicon Alley Reporter magazine. We’ve been friends ever since and I give him a big hug whenever our paths cross. He’s his normal outspoken and bombastic self in this book, which has lots of gems buried in it. I smiled a lot when I read it. And how about that subtitle …

Brad Feld

Co-Founder/Foundry Group

The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World

In a time when it seems empathy is a lost cause and compassion is a dying art, it may not be too late to revive the better angels of our nature. Jamil Zaki is one of the bright lights in psychology, and in this gripping book he shows that kindness is not a sign of weakness but a source of strength.

Adam Grant

Author