As a nurse, you probably want to be the best professional that you can be. Your training will provide much of what you need in order to be good at your job. You can also prepare yourself for the day to day challenges by reading great books. There are five books in particular that every nurse and aspiring nurse should read before hitting the hospital floor. Here is a short overview of those books and what they have to offer.
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Bedlam Among the Bedpans: Humor in Nursing by Amy Y. Young
Laughter truly is the best medicine, especially for nurses who have to put up with a lot of things during the course of a day. This is a book that’s very easy to read. It includes a number of short stories that are based on the funny things that can happen on the nursing floor. It is a combination of clean stories about what patients do and stories about how nurses interact with one another. If you need to have a laugh at the expense of a few other nurses, then this might do the trick. At the very least, it will remind you that things could always be worse.
Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson
This book is not specifically about nursing. It does have many principles, though, that can be applied by nurses on a daily basis. This book is mostly about dealing with change. It describes the need for change and the need for flexibility in all people. As a nurse, you will be forced to put up with change. There will be many things that are outside of your control during your career. Learning how to deal with these things and process these things is extremely important.
A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen
Nurses have a tendency to complain a lot. It is natural to deal with problems by voicing your complaints to those people around. On top of that, you will have to learn to deal with the complaints of people around you. Patients will complain incessantly about their conditions, your service, and the hospital. Families will complain even more than them. Learning to compartmentalize these things will give you an edge in your career. You will want to keep a good perspective on things so that you can be happy. That is what this book will help you with.
Your First Year as a Nurse by Donna Cardillo
Are you wondering what it will be like when you are out on the hospital floor? Do you have questions about how to handle your career development? Are you just looking for a way to prepare for the job? This is a book that can ultimately help with all of those things. Cardillo’s book provides nice background on what might happen during your first year. This book can even be helpful for experienced nurses. If you are working with young nurses, then you can read this to remind yourself of what they are going through. It can help to center your thoughts as you move forward.
Nursing Ethics in Everyday Practice by Connie Ulrich
This book speaks to a topic that is very important in the modern nursing world. You need to know what to do when those difficult ethical dilemmas arise. Young nurses often struggle with how to set their ethical compass. This book can provide some advice on how to properly calibrate yourself as you start your career. It is a highly practical book that breaks down the difficult topics of ethics into a simple guide for new and experienced nurses alike.
JD Arnold is an ICU nurse and guest author at Top Nursing Programs. Go here for JD’s review of the 10 best online nursing masters degree programs.
