17 Popular Nursing Books in 2025
Looking for nursing books to inspire you and help you grow as a nurse? Reading is an excellent way to work on professional development and expand your perspective on life and work. Whether you’re a nursing student, a new grad finding your footing, or a seasoned clinician, the right nursing book can offer insight, encouragement, and practical tools to elevate your practice.
Reading can be more than educational — it can be good for mental health. Studies show that reading can reduce stress levels by up to 68%. It can calm the nervous system, improve focus, and even elevate mood by offering a mental escape and emotional connection. If you’re seeking another self-care tool to add to your routine, a new book is a great choice.
Reading can also promote lifelong learning, a core value in nursing practice. Continuous education helps nurses maintain competency, adapt to changes in healthcare, and deliver evidence-based care. By reading regularly — whether through nursing books, articles, or essays — you can stay informed, reflective, and connected to your practice.
If you’re looking for great books for nurses to add to your list, check out our recommendations below. We’ve rounded up 17 of the top books for nurses that cover nursing everything from history and burnout recovery to real-life stories from the front lines of healthcare.
1. For New Nursing Students
Introduction to Nursing for First-Year Students
Is your first day of nursing school fast approaching? Reading books for nursing students could help you begin your classes with confidence. Students looking for a resource that covers a little bit of everything will get their feet wet with this book. It touches on a wide mix of nursing topics — core clinical skills, tips for effective communication, and medication management are just a few examples of what’s introduced in this book.
2. For New Graduates
First Admission: A Handbook to New Grad Nursing
This is one of many useful nursing books for beginners who are fresh out of nursing school but unsure of the industry’s realities and where they’ll fit. This book explores anecdotes about nursing school and the highs and lows of the industry. From gratitude about being free from boring professors to navigating workplace politics, it’s only a matter of time before you find a relatable story.
3. Nursing History
A History of Nursing
By Louise Wyatt
Nursing is an old profession. From village healers during ancient times to the variety of specialties today, this book explores the evolution of nursing. It’s a great source for those who want a deep dive into nursing history. Learning more context could help you gain valuable insights about the industry.
4. Nursing Specialties
301 Careers in Nursing
By Joyce Fitzpatrick, Emerson Ea, and Laura Stark Bai
Nursing offers an almost dizzying amount of options when it comes to nursing specialties, and many nurses choose to work in several during their careers. The newest edition of this book details 100 new specialty areas, including several advanced practice areas and 25 interviews with working nurses. It’s a great resource for nurses who are new to the profession or looking for a change.
5. Nursing Fiction
The Orange Tree
This story explores the friendship that blossoms between a Somali nurse and a Jewish patient in the aftermath of 9/11. They learn to appreciate each other’s humanity despite the intense turmoil surrounding them. This is a tender novel displaying how nurses navigate cultural differences during tense times. It’s definitely worth a read if you’re unsure of how to handle uncomfortable situations with patients regarding misunderstandings and current events.
6. Nursing Well-Being
Courageous Well-Being for Nurses
By Donna Gaffney and Nicole Foster
If you’ve been feeling exhausted by work or are worried about future burnout, this book is a great resource. Gaffney and Foster walk readers through strategies for mental healing and self-care, including mindfulness, self-compassion, evidence-based guidelines on sleep and exercise, and much more. Plus, it includes tons of other resources to support you such as podcasts, webinars, other nursing books, and more.
7. Retired Nurses
Redefining Retirement for Nurses
By Joanne Evans
You’ve dedicated your life to one of the most hardworking and honorable professions. Now what? This book illuminates the lives of retired nurses and how the skills they’ve learned during their professional careers help them navigate this change. Retirement is a new beginning, and nursing provides a strong foundation to aid your transition into this new era of your life.
8. Equity in Nursing
Fast Facts about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Nursing: Building Competencies for an Antiracism Practice
By Sandra Davis and Anne Marie O’Brien
This book seeks to educate nurses on the impact of racism on health outcomes and access to care. Nurses will learn how to identify how these systemic issues manifest in their own workplace and multicultural ways to address them. This is a perceptive read for nurses interested in the intersection between healthcare and social justice.
9. Self-Care for Nurses
Health and Wellbeing at Work for Nurses and Midwives
By Holly Blake and Gemma Stacey
You deserve care and compassion as much as anyone else, but it can be hard to put yourself first. This book offers strategies to maintain both physical and mental health, and it’s got practical tools for making sure you get the care you need. Preventing dehydration and coping with moral injury are some examples of the issues tackled in this book.
10. For Learning About Medical Racism
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
This book explores the story of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were taken without her consent and used to advance modern medicine. Nurses reading this book will gain a deeper understanding of the legacy of medical racism, informed consent, and the ethical complexities that still shape healthcare today. It’s a vital reminder of the human stories behind scientific breakthroughs and a call to equity and justice in patient care.
11. Understanding Death as a Nurse
Being Mortal
By Atul Gawande
This thoughtful book discusses aging, terminal illness, and end-of-life care. Nurses who support patients and families through these transitions will find Being Mortal both grounding and affirming, helping to reframe difficult conversations around death and dignity. Gawande’s writing offers clarity, perspective, and permission to prioritize quality of life over simply prolonging it.
12. For Nurses Who Love True Crime
The Good Nurse
True crime meets healthcare ethics in this gripping account of Charles Cullen, a nurse turned serial killer. While disturbing, the book raises crucial questions about systemic failures, whistleblower courage, and accountability. For nurses, it’s both a page-turner and a chilling look at what can happen when red flags are ignored, and a compelling case for speaking up when something feels wrong.
13. For Understanding Modern Medicine
The Social Transformation of American Medicine
By Paul Starr
This Pulitzer Prize-winning book follows the rise of the American healthcare system and how it came to be shaped by politics, economics, and power. Nurses interested in healthcare policy or advocacy will gain insight into how the profession fits within the broader medical-industrial complex, and how historical shifts continue to affect patient care, access, and professional hierarchies.
14. For History on Women Healers
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses
By Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English
One of the classic nursing books, this explores the history of women healers, tracing how female practitioners were once revered — and later demonized — as part of broader social and medical power struggles. Nurses will appreciate this book for its empowering narrative that connects their modern roles to a deep legacy of care, resilience, and resistance. It’s a short but potent read that reclaims nursing’s radical roots.
15. For Another Perspective on Medicine
Complications: A Surgeon’s Notebook on an Imperfect Science
By Atul Gawande
Gawande offers honest, deeply human reflections on the uncertainties of medicine, including his own mistakes and doubts as a surgeon. It opens up conversations about imperfection, fallibility, and the messy, real-life practice of healthcare. It’s a reminder that medicine is as much an art as a science, and that humility and honesty are essential to good care.
16. Future of Nursing
The Future of Nursing 2020–2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity
By the National Academy of Medicine
Do you ever think about the future of nursing and how nurses can help improve the profession? This book explores current roadblocks to health equity and how nurses can help improve access to quality healthcare for everyone. This read can give you ideas for how you and like-minded people can band together to make some of the positive changes you want to see in nursing.
17. End-of-Life Care
The In-Between
This memoir from hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos — known to many online as Nurse Hadley — offers a nurse’s perspective into the moments between life and death. Through a series of patient stories, The In-Between explores love, loss, healing, and spiritual connection. Whether you work in hospice or elsewhere, this book is a compassionate, uplifting reminder of why nursing can be both a job and a calling.
Ready for Something New?
Great nursing books aren’t the only way to develop your career. If you’re interested in a fresh role, IntelyCare can help you find it. Learn about personalized job notifications that alert you to opportunities aligned with your specialty, credentials, and schedule.
Ayanna Dunn, BSN, RN contributed to the writing of this article.