These 10 shows come recommended by nurses for nurses, vetted by Jenna Liphart Rhoads, PhD, RN, a nurse educator with a doctorate in nursing education, and Caitlin Goodwin, DNP, CNM, RN, a board-certified nurse midwife.
1. FreshRN
FreshRN walks new nurses through the first year on the job: orientation, code blues, and the tricks that make those early months survivable. The hosts bring a combined 45 years of experience across cardiac medical-surgical, critical care, and neurocritical care, plus practical takes on time management, work-life balance, and night shifts. Rhoads points to the "Unwritten Rules of Nursing" episode as an excellent listen for students and new grads.
2. SHIFT Talk
Hosted by Nacole Riccaboni, a board-certified RN and nurse practitioner, SHIFT Talk digs into the challenges nurses face on and off the clock: burnout, health equity, nurse relationships, professional development, and PTSD. The show pairs with a library of nursing articles and invites nurses to come on as guests.
3. Straight A Nursing
Built for nursing students, Straight A Nursing covers clinicals, medical-surgical, mental health, pediatrics, pharmacology, and women's health, with multiple episodes per topic and a supplemental blog and quizzes. Rhoads likes that it mixes practical skills not taught in school, like building a morning routine and delegating, with how conditions such as compartment syndrome and Kawasaki disease are actually treated.
4. See You Now
Produced by Johnson & Johnson and the American Nurses Association (ANA) and hosted by nurse economist Shawna Butler, See You Now profiles the people reshaping healthcare. Across 50-plus episodes it features nurses and their allies in politics, business, and technology working on infection prevention, infant health, maternal mortality, palliative care, and emerging tools like AI and robotics.
5. Nurses on Fire
Nurses on Fire is financial advice built for nurses, hosted by Naseema McElroy alongside certified financial planners. With nearly 100 episodes, it covers growing wealth, investing, setting goals, and breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, drawing on McElroy's own debt-payoff story.
6. Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
Family doctor Sydnee McElroy and her husband Justin cover the weird, gross, and sometimes dangerous ways medicine has tried to fix people. Goodwin recommends it for anyone who wants the dark underbelly of medical history, from the thalidomide tragedy to multilevel marketing companies, delivered with humor.
7. NursePreneur
Host Catie Harris interviews nurses who have turned their skills into businesses, from integrative-medicine centers to holistic-care nonprofits abroad. Goodwin likes the focus on monetizing nursing knowledge through business and marketing while still improving care.
8. The Nurse Keith Show
Keith Carlson draws on 25 years across home health, community health, case management, public health, hospice, and education to coach nurses on balancing work and life. With more than 300 episodes, the show covers entrepreneurship, networking, coworker relationships, and mental health.
9. Nursing Uncensored
Hosted by Adrianne Behning, who spent 11 years as a CNA before becoming an RN in 2016, Nursing Uncensored teaches through humor and storytelling. It captures the day-to-day of real nursing, including the tragedies, the triumphs, and plenty of dark humor. Explicit content is flagged.
10. The Lab Values Podcast by Nursing.com
Each episode breaks down one essential lab value: normal ranges, nursing considerations, and the why behind it. Hosted by Nursing.com founder and former ICU nurse Jon Haws, most episodes run about five minutes, making them an easy primer for new nurses and a quick refresher for veterans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are nursing podcasts worth the time? For most nurses, yes. They let you keep current on practice and careers during downtime you already have, like a commute or a walk, without carving out separate study hours.
Which podcast is best for a brand-new nurse? FreshRN is built for the first year on the job, covering orientation, code blues, and time management. Straight A Nursing is the better pick if you're still in school.
Are there podcasts about nurse burnout and mental health? Yes. SHIFT Talk digs into burnout, professional development, and PTSD, and The Nurse Keith Show covers work-life balance. Burnout is widespread: 46% of health workers reported often feeling burned out in 2022, up from 32% in 2018 (CDC/NIOSH).
Which podcasts help with money and business? Nurses on Fire focuses on personal finance and getting out of the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, while NursePreneur interviews nurses who built businesses from their clinical skills.
Is See You Now a credible show? It's produced by Johnson & Johnson and the American Nurses Association and hosted by nurse economist Shawna Butler, profiling nurses driving real change in healthcare.
Can a podcast replace continuing education? No. Podcasts are a supplement for staying current and motivated, not a substitute for the accredited continuing education your license requires.