26 Books like Notes on Nursing

Dissolving Illusions

by Suzanne Humphries • 2013

Infectious disease death rates fell before vaccines. Credit goes to sanitation, not shots.

4.62

2k+

🏥 Medical History 💉 Vaccine Controversy 🏘️ Public Health

Dissolving Illusions 92%

Infectious disease death rates fell before vaccines. Credit goes to sanitation, not shots.

by Suzanne Humphries 2013

4.62

2k+ ratings

🏥 Medical History 💉 Vaccine Controversy 🏘️ Public Health

The Shift

by Theresa Brown • 2015

Four patients, twelve hours: one nurse's shift reveals the invisible work that keeps people alive.

3.87

8k+

🏥 Hospital Nursing 📝 Nursing Memoir 💙 Emotional Labor

The Shift 91%

Four patients, twelve hours: one nurse's shift reveals the invisible work that keeps people alive.

by Theresa Brown 2015

3.87

8k+ ratings

🏥 Hospital Nursing 📝 Nursing Memoir 💙 Emotional Labor

The Ghost Map

by Steven Johnson • 2006

London, 1854: a doctor maps the cholera dead while a reverend hunts the outbreak's first victim.

3.89

57k+

🦠 Epidemiology 🏥 Public Health 🗺️ Disease Mapping

The Ghost Map 91%

London, 1854: a doctor maps the cholera dead while a reverend hunts the outbreak's first victim.

by Steven Johnson 2006

3.89

57k+ ratings

🦠 Epidemiology 🏥 Public Health 🗺️ Disease Mapping

Extra Life

by Steven Johnson • 2023

For millennia, humans lived to thirty-five. Then, in a century, we doubled it. How that happened.

4.19

1k+

🏥 Public Health 📜 History Of Medicine 🦠 Epidemiology

Extra Life 91%

For millennia, humans lived to thirty-five. Then, in a century, we doubled it. How that happened.

by Steven Johnson 2023

4.19

1k+ ratings

🏥 Public Health 📜 History Of Medicine 🦠 Epidemiology

The Emperor of All Maladies

by Siddhartha Mukherjee • 2010

Cancer's biography: a killer that turns out to be a warped reflection of our own biology.

4.34

116k+

📜 Medical History 🔬 Cancer Biology 📖 Disease Biography

The Emperor of All Maladies 91%

Cancer's biography: a killer that turns out to be a warped reflection of our own biology.

by Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

4.34

116k+ ratings

📜 Medical History 🔬 Cancer Biology 📖 Disease Biography

Nine Pints

by Rose George • 2018

How a single fluid shaped history, underpins a brutal global trade, and still defies science.

3.82

4k+

🏥 Medical History 🌍 Global Health 🩸 Menstrual Taboos

Nine Pints 91%

How a single fluid shaped history, underpins a brutal global trade, and still defies science.

by Rose George 2018

3.82

4k+ ratings

🏥 Medical History 🌍 Global Health 🩸 Menstrual Taboos

Patient Zero

by Lydia Kang • 2021

The hunt for patient zero almost always finds a scapegoat, not a cause.

4.13

3k+

🏥 Medical History 🌍 Disease Ecology 🔍 Outbreak Investigation

Patient Zero 91%

The hunt for patient zero almost always finds a scapegoat, not a cause.

by Lydia Kang 2021

4.13

3k+ ratings

🏥 Medical History 🌍 Disease Ecology 🔍 Outbreak Investigation

Better

by Atul Gawande • 2007

Between what medicine knows and what it does, the stubborn details that close the gap.

4.25

37k+

🩺 Surgical Memoir ⚖️ Medical Ethics 🪖 Battlefield Medicine

Better 91%

Between what medicine knows and what it does, the stubborn details that close the gap.

by Atul Gawande 2007

4.25

37k+ ratings

🩺 Surgical Memoir ⚖️ Medical Ethics 🪖 Battlefield Medicine

Women in White Coats

by Olivia Campbell • 2021

Seven women enrolled in medical school in 1869. The men rioted. They changed medicine anyway.

3.72

6k+

👩‍⚕️ Women In Medicine 🏫 Medical Education 🕰️ 19th Century Medicine

Women in White Coats 90%

Seven women enrolled in medical school in 1869. The men rioted. They changed medicine anyway.

by Olivia Campbell 2021

3.72

6k+ ratings

👩‍⚕️ Women In Medicine 🏫 Medical Education 🕰️ 19th Century Medicine

The Dirt on Clean

by Katherine Ashenburg • 2007

Roman luxury, medieval sin, modern obsession: the hidden forces that shaped our hygiene.

3.71

3k+

🧼 History Of Hygiene 🔍 Microhistory 🦵 Body History

The Dirt on Clean 90%

Roman luxury, medieval sin, modern obsession: the hidden forces that shaped our hygiene.

by Katherine Ashenburg 2007

3.71

3k+ ratings

🧼 History Of Hygiene 🔍 Microhistory 🦵 Body History

The Great Influenza

by John M. Barry • 2004

Modern medicine was just being born. Then the deadliest pandemic hit and killed the young first.

3.98

43k+

🏥 Medical History 🦠 Pandemic History 🧫 Viral Outbreaks

The Great Influenza 90%

Modern medicine was just being born. Then the deadliest pandemic hit and killed the young first.

by John M. Barry 2004

3.98

43k+ ratings

🏥 Medical History 🦠 Pandemic History 🧫 Viral Outbreaks

Ten Drugs

by Thomas Hager • 2019

Ten drugs that each reshaped medicine, and revealed the price of every cure.

4.18

5k+

📜 History Of Medicine 💊 Pharmaceutical History 💉 Vaccination History

Ten Drugs 90%

Ten drugs that each reshaped medicine, and revealed the price of every cure.

by Thomas Hager 2019

4.18

5k+ ratings

📜 History Of Medicine 💊 Pharmaceutical History 💉 Vaccination History

Booster Shots

by Adam Ratner • 2025

Measles erases immune memory. It also erases societal memory, and that amnesia is more dangerous.

4.33

577

🏥 Public Health 🦠 Infectious Disease 📊 Epidemiology

Booster Shots 90%

Measles erases immune memory. It also erases societal memory, and that amnesia is more dangerous.

by Adam Ratner 2025

4.33

577 ratings

🏥 Public Health 🦠 Infectious Disease 📊 Epidemiology

Crooked

by Forrest Maready • 2018

Metals in vaccines may be damaging nerves from birth. The evidence is in our faces.

4.38

178

🌿 Alternative Medicine 📜 Medical History 💉 Vaccine Skepticism

Crooked 90%

Metals in vaccines may be damaging nerves from birth. The evidence is in our faces.

by Forrest Maready 2018

4.38

178 ratings

🌿 Alternative Medicine 📜 Medical History 💉 Vaccine Skepticism

Every Deep-Drawn Breath

by Wes Ely • 2021

ICUs save the body but break the mind. A doctor's proof that survival is not the whole story.

4.35

2k+

🫁 Critical Care 🤝 Patient-Centered Care 💛 Humanistic Medicine

Every Deep-Drawn Breath 90%

ICUs save the body but break the mind. A doctor's proof that survival is not the whole story.

by Wes Ely 2021

4.35

2k+ ratings

🫁 Critical Care 🤝 Patient-Centered Care 💛 Humanistic Medicine

Oh Sh*t, I Almost Killed You! A Little Book of Big Things Nursing School Forgot to Teach You

by Sonja Schwartzbach • 2017

Nursing school stopped at mannequins. The job is chaos, death, and dark humor as survival.

3.71

2k+

🩺 Nursing Careers 📖 Medical Memoirs 🏥 Healthcare Culture

Oh Sh*t, I Almost Killed You! A Little Book of Big Things Nursing School Forgot to Teach You Summary

Oh Sh*t, I Almost Killed You! A Little Book of Big Things Nursing School Forgot to Teach You 90%

Nursing school stopped at mannequins. The job is chaos, death, and dark humor as survival.

by Sonja Schwartzbach 2017

3.71

2k+ ratings

🩺 Nursing Careers 📖 Medical Memoirs 🏥 Healthcare Culture

Buddhism

by Damien Keown • 1996

Buddhism has no god, no bible, no pope. What holds its many traditions together?

3.74

3k+

📖 Introductory Buddhism ☸️ Buddhist Philosophy 🛕 Theravada Buddhism

Buddhism 90%

Buddhism has no god, no bible, no pope. What holds its many traditions together?

by Damien Keown 1996

3.74

3k+ ratings

📖 Introductory Buddhism ☸️ Buddhist Philosophy 🛕 Theravada Buddhism

Curing the Incurable

by Thomas E. Levy • 2002

A vitamin cured sixty straight polio cases. The world forgot. The dosing that erases infections.

4.39

158

🧬 Orthomolecular Medicine 💊 Vitamin Therapy ⚡ High-Dose Nutrients

Curing the Incurable 90%

A vitamin cured sixty straight polio cases. The world forgot. The dosing that erases infections.

by Thomas E. Levy 2002

4.39

158 ratings

🧬 Orthomolecular Medicine 💊 Vitamin Therapy ⚡ High-Dose Nutrients

Mosquito

by Andrew Spielman • 2001

Smaller than a fingernail, deadlier than all wars combined: the insect that decided empires.

3.89

436

🦠 Infectious Disease 🌍 Disease Ecology 🪲 Insect Science

Mosquito 90%

Smaller than a fingernail, deadlier than all wars combined: the insect that decided empires.

by Andrew Spielman 2001

3.89

436 ratings

🦠 Infectious Disease 🌍 Disease Ecology 🪲 Insect Science

God's Hotel

by Victoria Sweet • 2012

Time and observation healed patients at America’s last almshouse in ways modern medicine can’t.

4.11

6k+

🏥 Hospital Memoir 🕰️ Long-Term Care 👩‍⚕️ Doctor-Patient Relationship

God's Hotel 90%

Time and observation healed patients at America’s last almshouse in ways modern medicine can’t.

by Victoria Sweet 2012

4.11

6k+ ratings

🏥 Hospital Memoir 🕰️ Long-Term Care 👩‍⚕️ Doctor-Patient Relationship

Avicenna's Medicine

by Avicenna • 1025

Four humors, nine temperaments: the medieval system returning to integrative clinics today.

4.29

276

🧪 Humoral Medicine 🕌 Islamic Medicine 🌡️ Temperament Types

Avicenna's Medicine 90%

Four humors, nine temperaments: the medieval system returning to integrative clinics today.

by Avicenna 1025

4.29

276 ratings

🧪 Humoral Medicine 🕌 Islamic Medicine 🌡️ Temperament Types

COVID-19

by Michael Mosley • 2020

Why this virus spreads before symptoms, and the science-backed ways to strengthen your defenses.

3.91

224

🦠 Virology 🏥 Public Health 🩺 Infectious Disease

COVID-19 89%

Why this virus spreads before symptoms, and the science-backed ways to strengthen your defenses.

by Michael Mosley 2020

3.91

224 ratings

🦠 Virology 🏥 Public Health 🩺 Infectious Disease

Complications

by Atul Gawande • 2002

Guesswork, uncertainty, and routine error: a surgeon's casebook from inside the operating room.

4.28

53k+

🏥 Surgical Memoir ⚖️ Medical Ethics 📖 Narrative Medicine

Complications 89%

Guesswork, uncertainty, and routine error: a surgeon's casebook from inside the operating room.

by Atul Gawande 2002

4.28

53k+ ratings

🏥 Surgical Memoir ⚖️ Medical Ethics 📖 Narrative Medicine

Everything Is Tuberculosis

by John Green • 2025

Tuberculosis is curable. Its persistence reveals not biology but a record of whose lives are valued.

4.32

279k+

🦠 Infectious Disease 🏥 History Of Medicine 🌍 Global Health Inequity

Everything Is Tuberculosis 89%

Tuberculosis is curable. Its persistence reveals not biology but a record of whose lives are valued.

by John Green 2025

4.32

279k+ ratings

🦠 Infectious Disease 🏥 History Of Medicine 🌍 Global Health Inequity

Awakenings

by Oliver Sacks • 1973

Patients frozen for decades woke on a single drug. The real trial was staying awake.

4.09

14k+

🔬 Clinical Neurology 🫀 Humanistic Medicine 🧠 Neuroplasticity

Awakenings 89%

Patients frozen for decades woke on a single drug. The real trial was staying awake.

by Oliver Sacks 1973

4.09

14k+ ratings

🔬 Clinical Neurology 🫀 Humanistic Medicine 🧠 Neuroplasticity

Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals

by Peter Pronovost • 2010

Hospitals kill by accident. One doctor proved it and built the checklist system that stops them.

3.94

244

🏥 Patient Safety 🔗 Systems Thinking 🛡️ Safety Culture

Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals 89%

Hospitals kill by accident. One doctor proved it and built the checklist system that stops them.

by Peter Pronovost 2010

3.94

244 ratings

🏥 Patient Safety 🔗 Systems Thinking 🛡️ Safety Culture

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