Best summer reading for nurses

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Here we are, approaching those fabled dog days, and what better time to catch up on your reading than when it’s too hot to go outside, anyway?

If you’ve already burned through your summer reading list or are just looking for a new book to get into, here’s a look at a few to get you started…

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman

Described as a “must-read eye-opener for cultural competency and compassion for those whose cultures are very different from our own,” this book tells the story of a young girl from a Hmong family who suffers from a seizure disorder, and the battle between her family and U.S. healthcare providers.

Bed Number Ten by Sue Baier and Mary Zimmeth Schomaker

This story is told from the perspective of a patient totally paralyzed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, and explores the psychological and physical pain of an 11-month hospital stay. Readers have reported that the book is required reading on their unit.

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

This novel focuses on twin boys born to a Indian nun and a British surgeon. After their mother dies and their father disappears, the boys are left to come of age in an Ethiopia hovering on the brink of revolution.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

This book is about the woman whose cells became known as HeLa and led to important scientific discoveries such as the polio vaccine. Additionally, the book explores how, despite the benefits from HeLa’s discoveries, Lack’s family continually suffered from the inequities of the healthcare system.

Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not by Florence Nightingale

This book, written more than 150 years ago, still resonates on modern nursing today. Best of all, it is now available for free online and on Kindle, NOOK and Kobo e-readers.

Find more suggestions for your summer reading list at Medscape.com.