​9 Nursing Podcasts to inspire, educate and entertain

By Josh Jezard

​9 Nursing Podcasts to inspire, educate and entertain

Are you looking for some quality nursing podcasts to inspire, educate and even entertain you? It seems like everyone and their nan has a podcast these days but apart from becoming an extremely popular source of entertainment, they offer a great way to consume important information from experts and peers alike.

To thrive in nursing, it’s essential to put a focus on continuous learning and development. Podcasts can assist with this and present a convenient way to digest important information, even when on the move. Question is, how do you cut through all the noise and choose the best nursing podcasts when there are so many options out there?

We spoke to some of our nurses and those working in the nursing and healthcare industry and asked them to tell us which podcasts inspire, educate and entertain them. We’ve put together a short list of the nine best nursing podcasts that we think are the most informative and useful.

The Top Nursing Podcasts

Listening to podcasts help you learn and develop. The best podcasts offer key insights, industry trends and interesting developments within a given field, delivered by experts and often notable guest speakers. Typically, to access such information, you’d need to buy books, publications or even seek out the advice of professionals.

As nursing is such a fast-moving industry, it’s important to stay up to date with emerging developments and ideas. As nursing is such a varied industry, we’ve tried to select a variety of podcasts that will appeal to as many specialisms as possible.

Nursing Matters

The Royal College of Nursing has recently launched its new biweekly podcast, Nursing Matters. In this nursing podcast, they unpack nursing news, discuss professional issues and meet some of their members at the forefront of developing nursing practice and the profession.

Despite being in its infancy, we like this podcast as they bring together experts from the RCN Professional Nursing Committee along with some special guests to talk about what really matters to nursing. Listeners can expect the podcast to cover a whole range of topics from inspirational innovations and pioneering practice to pay, conditions and health and care policy.

​You can find all episodes of Nursing Matters on the RCN website here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Nursing Standard

​The Nursing standard is a well-known weekly publication as well as a comprehensive digital resource that aims to ‘keep nurses and health professionals up to date with the latest developments, best practice and research to meet the NMC’s revalidation requirements.’

​As part of their digital offering, they produce a biweekly podcast focusing on topics affecting nurses and the healthcare industry in the UK. We especially like these podcasts as it covers a lot of information that they feature in many of their member access only articles for free!

Some of the topics they’ve covered range from addressing the gender gap in nursing to the legacy of Florence Nightingale and even top tips for nursing students.

You can find all episodes of Nursing Standard Podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

The Health Foundation

The Health Foundation podcast is a relatively new offering from UK based independent charity The Health Foundation. The aim of the Health Foundation is to bring about better health and healthcare for the people of the UK.

The Health Foundation podcast is a monthly production and takes a look at the most important issues affecting the future of health and healthcare. Chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon interviews the leading minds in health and health care, and high-profile guests from politics and beyond, to get their views on the most topical issues and their implications for our health.

You can find all episodes of The Health Foundation podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Continulus Critical Care Nursing

The Continulus Critical Care Nursing podcast accompanies the 'Critical Care Global Classroom' – which are fortnightly lectures delivered by leading global experts in Critical Care Nursing.

This well-established Nursing podcast has been about for a few years now and is great for in-depth analysis into the latest evidence-based best-practice. Featuring appearances from leading researchers and guest speakers it is an invaluable resource for any critical care nurse out there looking to stay up to date.

You can find all episodes of The Continulus Critical Care Nursing podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

GINcast: the Gastrointestinal Nursing Podcast

The GINcast: the Gastrointestinal Nursing Podcast is one of the more specialist nursing podcasts out there. Aimed at nurses working in gastroenterology, hepatology and stoma care, each episode features in-depth conversations with leading experts and covers a specialist area of professional practice.

The aim of the pod is to provide a practical focus on holistic, cost-effective and patient-centred care through continued discussion around clinical experience and scientific research. This podcast provides really useful and practical advice for the nurse who values on the go learning.

You can find all episodes of The GINcast: the Gastrointestinal Nursing Podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Navigating Nursing

Navigating Nursing is a podcast hosted by Adult Critical Care nurse, Laura Whitehead. However, this not a nursing podcast solely focused on Critical Care. No, this podcast hosts nurse speakers from an array of specialisms discussing their current roles, educational achievements and their careers to date – and also talking about their future plans.

This series of podcasts is an enjoyable, inspiring and educational listen. It’s a very accessible and motivational podcast and with each episode being between 20 - 30 minutes easy to digest whilst on the go!

You can find all episodes of the Navigating Nursing Podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Retaining the Passion: Journeys Through Nursing

Retaining the Passion: Journeys Through Nursing is a relatively new podcast having been established in the crazy summer of 2020 by two newly qualified nurses Clare Manley and Craig Davidson. The two detail their own personal journeys through nursing, shining a light on issues within the profession and wider society.

Clare and Craig weigh in on a variety of topics from the effects of Covid on nursing to whether universities prepare new registrants for WHEN they make a mistake rather than IF. Joined by an impressive list of guest speakers from the world of nursing this really is a great nursing podcast to get stuck into.

You can find all episodes of the Retaining the Passion: Journeys Through Nursing Podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

The King's Fund podcast

​The King's Fund is an independent charity and its podcast is billed as ‘A podcast about big ideas in health and care’ and that’s exactly what it is. Experts from the King’s Fund, the NHS and from across the healthcare industry sit down to talk all things health policy and leadership.

​With monthly episodes, this podcast provides some seriously thought-provoking topics. With episodes asking questions such as:

What role does the police play in responding to people in mental health crisis? What does a public health approach to serious youth violence entail? Does living in prison lead to worse health?

Listeners are introduced to a plethora of ideas and opinions from some of the country’s leading experts in an interesting way leaving many to stop and think.

You can find all episodes of The King's Fund podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

The Nursing Handover Podcast

The Nursing Handover Podcast is a really great listen for anyone. Nurses Diane, Gerry and Clarissa discuss all the raw observations of nursing in an authentic, thoughtful and funny way. This podcast covers a wide range of subjects from the proposed 1% pay rise for nurses, dating and coping with general nursing.

The nursing handover podcast is a really entertaining listen as well as informative and eye-opening for nurses as well as the general public. It seems that no topic is off the table and the passion and humour in which the hosts broach a lot of subjects makes this a great pod not just for nurses but health professionals and anyone who wants the real gist on that nurse life!

You can find all episodes of The Nursing Handover Podcast here or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

So, there we have it, our top-rated nursing podcasts. We hope that whatever aspect of nursing you may be involved in that there was something in that list for you. However, if you have any other suggestions of nursing podcasts that inspire, educate and entertain feel free to get in touch and we’ll see if they're suitable to add to the list.

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