Most nurses we know are voracious readers. Whether reading to sharpen their nursing skills, studying for a certification, or just occupying their minds during the off hours, a travel nurse’s brain is almost always churning. It makes good sense to feed our brains something nutritious between TikTok or Instagram “junk food.”, right?

>This Nightingale Nurses article offers a list of books that travel nurses will likely enjoy reading, along with a synopsis of each title.

Fiction Books That Travel Nurses Will Love

We know this isn’t the first article ever written about books for travel nurses—so we’re going to do things a little differently. Most articles in this vein stick only to the occupational reads, like medical textbooks and other non-fiction related to your job. For this article, we will focus instead on fictional stories, true stories, and memoirs that travel nurses are likely to enjoy and relate to.

1 - The Nightingale Girls by Donna Douglas

This is a favorite of ours here at Nightingale Nurses (and not just because our name is in the title!). The best part is that it is a series of 13 books.

The stories are about three student nurses in England just before WWII. They’ve got a little bit of everything, from mystery to romance and drama, and you’re certain to relate to the scenes at The Nightingale Hospital, where they all work.

The Nightingale Girls books are also highly rated on Amazon and GoodReads with 4+ stars across the board

2 - Panic by Echo Heron

If you’re not familiar with her, Echo Heron is a New York Times bestselling author of 11 titles, all with nursing-related themes. As a critical care RN herself, Heron brings authenticity to her writing, which we appreciate.

Panic is about a teenage girl with a mysterious virus and a race against the clock as the disease spreads. Charge nurse Adele Monsarrat teams up with a police detective to try and prevent an epidemic before it’s too late.

Panic is part of Heron’s Ellis Hospital Series, which gets pretty solid reviews and is very popular among travel nurses.

Great Non-Fiction Books for Travel Nurses

The fiction titles above are great for thrills and entertainment, but sometimes, you’re in the mood for something hearty and wholesome. We’ve got you covered. Here are some compilations of true stories and memoirs from staff, country, and travel nurses alike that contain intriguing personal accounts and pearls of wisdom that might just stick with your years.

3 - I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse

by Lee Gutkind

“I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out” is a travel nurse favorite that is unique in that it tells the stories of 24 different nurses. There are many stories of “firsts,” from first infant deliveries to the first time a patient died. What makes the stories really special is that the nurses telling them share more than just what happened and how it made them feel.

They share their hard-won wisdom too. Describing what they learned and what they did to make it through some of the toughest moments in their nursing careers. We think most travel nurses will not only identify with the stories, but find strength and comfort in them. That alone makes this a great read for any nurse, or a thoughtful gift for another nurse you know.

4 - Call the Nurse: True Stories of a Country Nurse on a Scottish Isle

by Mary J. MacLeod

Call The Nurse straddles the line a bit. It’s nonfiction, but it’s not a medical textbook. Rather, it’s a collection of true stories from the life of Mary J. MacLeod, a nurse since the 1960s who worked as a traveling nurse in England, Scotland, the U.S., Sweden, and even Saudi Arabia.

The Country Nurse stories are set in the rural Scottish Hebrides islands in the 60s. We think travel nurses will love being transported back to a very different time and place than their own.

The real people in her stories are full of folksy charm and old-world wisdom. MacLeod’s writing style is as sensible and straightforward as she is and it makes these books a breeze to read. We think any travel nurse who loves to read will appreciate them as much as we did.

5 - The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives

By Theresa Brown

Another true story book authored by a nurse. The entire book takes place during a single 12-hour shift in an oncology ward. Theresa Brown is both an R.N. and a New York Times columnist —- so she writes brilliantly.

The best feature of this book may be that the author uses her experience and the stories of her patients that night to share wisdom and insights into the wider world of nursing. We’d go as far as to say that every staff and travel nurse should be handed a copy of this book right when they finish nursing school.

“The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives” does a beautiful job of capturing the gravity of what it is to be a nurse—but also what makes it so profoundly rewarding. This one will keep you turning the pages. We bet you won’t be able to put it down.

Write The Next Chapter in Your Story at Nightingale Nurses

You’re a nurse who can’t imagine doing anything else for a living. You love having a career that gives you a chance to make a personal impact in people’s lives every day. Nightingale is a travel nursing agency that celebrates nurses.

We empower you to do what you love, including enjoying the adventure of travel and the career opportunities that come with it.

Contact Nightingale Nurses today at >561.314.0140 Or, just click this link to submit your inquiry.