10 Podcast Recommendations for Nurses

In the fast-paced world of healthcare, it can be difficult to remain up to date with current trends in nursing. Between completing long shifts, combating burnout, and finding new professional opportunities, time is a commodity many nurses lack.

Due to these constraints, many professionals have turned to podcasting to stay informed about various areas of the nursing field. Healthcare podcasts provide a convenient and time-efficient way for nurses to stay in the loop without sacrificing their free time.

This guide includes an overview of nursing podcasts recommended by nurses for nurses. Find out how each offers a unique insight into the field, providing information that can help nurses grow both professionally and personally.

Recommended by Jenna Liphart Roads, Ph.D., and Caitlin Goodwin, DNP, the following nursing podcasts are the top options that focus on the nursing field. Liphart Rhoads is a registered nurse, educator, and freelance author who holds a doctorate in education with a concentration in nursing education. Goodwin holds a doctor of nursing practice. She is also a registered nurse (RN) and board-certified nurse midwife.

FreshRN provides advice from experienced nurses regarding the basics of the first year on the job. Topics include orientation, code blues, and tricks of the trade to help make that first year as a nurse flow as smoothly as possible.

With a combined 45 years of experience, the hosts of FreshRN have been the recipients of several nursing awards and hold a wide breadth of experience, such as cardiac medical-surgical, critical care, and neurocritical care.

The podcast offers discussions of personal experiences with time management, work-life balance, and tips for working night shifts. The hosts provide professional insight into the initial stages of being a nurse to help new professionals build confidence and successfully survive their first year.

Liphart Roads enjoys the variety of topics covered, especially the episode “Unwritten Rules of Nursing,” which provides insight into nursing culture, making it “an excellent listen for nursing students or new nurse graduates.”

SHIFT Talk provides insight into the challenges nurses face both in and out of the workplace. Topics include burnout, COVID-19, health equity, nurse relationships, professional development, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The podcast is hosted by Nacole Riccaboni, a board-certified RN and nurse practitioner. She strives to foster connections between nurses so they can share their experiences and figure out how to face nursing challenges together.

SHIFT Talk also provides a database of nursing articles that explore aspects of the profession that can benefit nurses both on and off the clock. Articles include discounts, freebies, and specials for nurses; how to approach PTSD and avoid burnout; holistic health for nursing; and nurse bullying.

SHIFT Talk encourages nurses to serve as a podcast guest, participate in their SHIFT Talker Spotlight, or to simply share their thoughts.

Straight A Nursing is geared toward helping nursing students navigate their program. Episodes focus on clinicals, medical-surgical, mental health, pediatrics, pharmacology, and women’s health. Each topic contains several episodes that provide additional detail on the subject matter.

Every podcast includes a supplemental blog and quizzes on the information discussed. Hosts also offer study guides and courses that can be purchased for an additional fee. Courses include crucial concepts bootcamp, dosage calculations, beyond bootcamp, and study sesh.

Liphart Rhoads finds this podcast particularly engaging: “It has an excellent combination of tips about topics not thoroughly covered in nursing school, (such as creating a morning routine and delegating successfully), and also covers medical conditions and how they are treated from a medical and nursing perspective (such as compartment syndrome and Kawasaki disease).”

Straight A Nursing also provides free resources to help students get through nursing school. These resources include notes on prenursing and nursing school, as well as nursing brain and nursing run sheets.

Produced in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson and the American Nurses Association, the See You Now podcast provides a behind-the-scenes look at the people changing the face of healthcare.

Hosted by Shawna Butler, a nurse economist and health technology specialist, the podcast focuses not only on working nurses but also on nursing allies in politics, business, and technology.

See You Now offers discussions with nurses who are committed to developing innovation in healthcare. The podcast features conversations with healthcare professionals who are developing new devices, processes, and protocols, including researching infection prevention, infant health, maternal mortality, and palliative care.

The podcast has over 50 episodes focusing on topics like COVID-19, vaccinations, mental health, and healthcare legislation. Discussions also include the creation of innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence, virtual screenings, and robotics.

Nurses on Fire provides financial advice for nurses looking to build generational wealth. Hosted by nurses along with certified financial planners, the podcast focuses on helping professionals gain financial freedom to avoid living paycheck to paycheck.

With almost 100 episodes to choose from, Nurses on Fire offers advice on growing wealth, setting goals, investing appropriately, countering negative money perceptions, and transferring wealth.

Host Naseema McElroy uses her experience paying off her debt to help provide nurses with actionable ways to set them on the right financial path.

While the podcast mainly focuses on financial advice, other subjects include revolutionizing the nursing profession, changing the face of research, and promoting self-care.

Hosted by Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband, Justin, Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine discusses the “weird, gross, and sometimes downright dangerous ways” the healthcare industry has tried to solve health-related problems.

As a family doctor and an assistant professor at the Marshall University School of Medicine, Dr. McElroy offers a unique perspective into unexplained medical anomalies and the bizarre methods used to cure ailments in the name of science.

Topics include the green children of Woolpit, Havana syndrome, black oxygen organics (consumption of nutrient-rich mud), and the ability of chlorophyll to boost the immune system and curtail body odor.

The hosts provide the information in a humorous and entertaining manner while enlightening their audience on some of the disregarded aspects of the medical community.

Goodwin recommends Sawbones for those “who want to learn about the dark underbelly of medicine,” especially considering how the hosts “review all the horrific ways medicine has tried to fix people.” She also appreciates their “delving into problematic healthcare issues ranging from the thalidomide tragedy to multilevel marketing companies.”

NursePreneur provides conversations with nurses about using business, marketing, and entrepreneurial skills for financial gain. Host Catie Harris interviews nurses and business owners who overcome challenges while having a positive influence within communities and businesses.

Interviewees include founders of a variety of programs and businesses throughout the healthcare community, such as:

Goodwin particularly likes the unique nature of this podcast since “the focus is on monetizing knowledge and skills in business with business and marketing skills while improving healthcare delivery and perception.”

The Nurse Keith Show offers weekly podcasts that provide career advice and inspiration for nurses and other healthcare professionals. Host Keith Carlson has spent the last 25 years in nursing, working in home health, community health, case management, public health, hospice, and nursing education.

With over 300 episodes, Carlson focuses on providing coaching to nurses so they can find a balance between their personal and professional lives. The show focuses on topics, such as nursing entrepreneurship, networking, improving relationships with coworkers, and maintaining physical and mental health.

Episodes include titles like “Compassion Fatigue and the Soul of Caregiving,” “When Social Justice, Healing, and the Power of Love Join Forces,” “Creating a New Professional Society for Nurse Practitioners,” and “NurseBond and the Journey of Nursing Leadership and Empowerment.”

Editor’s note: Carlson is a contributing writer for NurseJournal.

Hosted by Adrianne Behning, Nursing Uncensored provides educational information through the use of humor and storytelling. Behning spent 11 years as a certified nursing assistant before becoming an RN in 2016.

Nursing Uncensored provides information on the day-to-day life of a nurse rather than certain niches. The podcast is geared toward nurses, students, and health allies looking not only for education but entertainment as well.

Podcast episodes provide interviews with a variety of nurses who offer insight into their own personal experiences. Nurses bring expertise in subjects, such as nurse activism, holistic wellness, burnout, and self-advocacy.

Nursing Uncensored focuses on what real-life nursing is all about, including tragedies, triumphs, and “lots of dark humor.” While some content is not suitable for work, any explicit audio is identified.

The Lab Values Podcast dedicates each episode to an essential lab value, such as normal ranges, nursing considerations, and background information. Episodes explain both the purpose and indications of lab values.

Presented by Nursing.com, the podcast provides introductory information for new nurses while also acting as a refresher for seasoned veterans. Episodes are succinct, with the majority averaging around five minutes, with longer episodes focusing on topics like COVID-19.

The podcast is hosted by the founder of Nursing.com, Jon Haws. Haws has experience as an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse, code team nurse, and an ICU charge nurse. With his experience in nursing education, he set out to help end the nursing shortage, which inspired him to simplify the nursing process through Nursing.com and his podcasts.