50 Awesomely Educational Podcasts for Nurses

February 8th, 2011

There all kinds of continuing education resources and opportunities for nurses, but if you're not ready to go back to school — or have an insatiable appetite for health care news and research — turn to the web for even more learning opportunities. These podcasts offer interviews, recaps, commentary and basic reference information on everything from travel nursing to oncology to pediatric care to public health.

Health News and Research

Podcasts in this list come from medical journals, news sites and more, covering everything from the latest research to health policy and advocacy. No matter your specialty, they're great resources for staying abreast of the latest developments in health care.

1. Johns Hopkins Medicine Podcasts: Here you'll find weekly reports re-hashing and commenting on the top medical stories.
2. Annals of Internal Medicine Podcasts: Get summaries of journal issues, interviews and research updates here.
3. JAMA Audio Commentary: Listen to JAMA's EIC review the latest journal issue.
4. Health Dialogues Podcast: NPR's KQED station reports on California health care issues, but anyone interested in serving disadvantaged populations, minorities and low-income communities will be interested.
5. MiResearch: The University of Michigan Health System has archived these short podcasts to whet your appetite for continued research and learning, on topics ranging from stem cells to infant care to dementia.
6. Healthcare411: Designed for the general public, this health care podcast focuses on consumer-focused health news, so it's accessible for nursing students and professionals.
7. The World's Global Health Podcast: Get updates on public health news from around the world.
8. Clinical Podcast: Health care practitioners discuss the latest research and developments in their fields.
9. Sound Medicine: Indiana University's Sound Medicine offers a smattering of stories, guidelines and research updates on all sorts of medical fields and topics, from tonsillectomies to Medicare to brain development.
10. NIH Radio: The National Institutes of Health posts new podcasts every other Friday, featuring a few general reports and an in-depth interview.
11. WHO Podcast: The World Health Organization's podcast covers global public health information, alerts and news.
12. Your Health Podcast: This NPR Health Desk podcast reports on consumer health and medical news.
13. Cell Podcasts: Cell Press Online provides these audio interviews with scientists who discuss research in Alzheimer's, blindness, neurogenetics, and more.
14. FDA Drug Safety Podcasts: Keep up with drug research, news, approvals, warning and more.
15. CDC Podcasts: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports on emergency preparedness, shares PSAs, and reveals the latest research and concerns from all sorts of niche disciplines, from AIDS to epilepsy and beyond. Browse by series or topic.
16. Health Ranger Report: This podcast takes a serious — but also satirical — look at natural medicine.
17. Penn Nursing Research: Learn about the research going at the University of Pennsylvania's nursing school.
18. AACR Podcasts: The American Association for Cancer Research has organized its 2010 audio interviews with doctors and cancer researchers here.
19. Applied Clinical Trials Podcasts: From the FDA to regulation to global clinical trials, keep up with what's next in medicine.

Nursing Specific

Here you'll find podcasts just for nurses. You'll hear stories about the profession, get tips on being a better nurse, learn about new career opportunities, and more.

20. Medscape Nurses Podcast: You'll get news for nurses on this podcast from Medscape.
21. Travel Nurse Talk: If you're interested in or work in travel nursing, you'll learn more about the profession from the stories and tips shared here.
22. Johns Hopkins School of Nursing: Find archived podcasts here plus a link to the iTunes podcast site from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.
23. Legal Nurse Consulting Podcast: Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD is "the pioneer of legal nurse consulting" and shares tips and information here.
24. Almost a Nurse: Sean E. is about to graduate from nursing school and podcasts about his life and journey here.
25. Insights in Nursing: Keep up with health care technology, ethics, and more.
26. Nurse Talk Podcasts: After spending 30 years working as a nurse, Casey Hobbs and Dan Grady started this nursing podcast to spread humor and their experiences.
27. The Nursing Show: Jamie Davis is a nurse and medical educator who hosts this online podcast that shares tips for all types of nurses and nursing students. Nursing news and health care reports are also featured.
28. Nursing Show Online Radio: Student nurses and professional nurses listen to this podcast for interviews, news, educational and career information, and more.
29. Travel Nursing Insider Podcast: This monthly podcast covers key topics relevant to travel nursing, including using social media, renewing assignments, starting new assignments, and pay and benefits.
30. ONF Podcast Series: The Oncology Nursing Society shares these 20-minute podcasts on patient care during different stages in life and in cancer.
31. The Nurses Station: Find up-to-date episodes in the left column, where interviews are archived.
32. Geriatric Nursing: Recent episodes on this iTunes podcast from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center cover brain aerobics, Alzheimer's, depression, kidney disease and multimodal therapy.

Patient Care, Diseases and Conditions

From specialty medicine to patient care, learn how to diagnose and treat patients with a range of conditions while listening to lectures about all sorts of medical topics.

33. University of Maryland Medical Center Medical Speaking: Become better at diagnosing and treating patients when you listen to this biweekly podcast.
34. Disease in Childhood: These podcasts from 2010 are now archived and feature interviews and discussions about pediatrics.
35. New England Journal of Medicine Podcasts and Feeds: Subscribe to a feed by specialty, like cardiology, endocrinology, or public health.
36. Drug and Therapeutics: Instead of reading through the whole BMJ, listen to podcasts from its drug and therapeutics section here.
37. Drexel Medcast: From alternative medicine to kidney disease to cancer and addiction, this podcast from Drexel University College of Medicine covers a range of health care topics from doctors and experts.
38. Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Lectures: This podcast serves as a general interest medical resource for learning about everything from pediatric obesity to disabilities to global health education.
39. The Dartmouth Institute Academy for Collaborative Education: This is a new series on quality improvement for doctors, nurses, technicians and other health care professionals.
40. Gerontological Nursing Education: Here's another podcast series on gerontology.

Reference and Education

These podcasts cover everything from patient care tips to medical reference and educational resources to news to commentary from doctors and researchers. They're great feeds to listen to for something different each day.

41. MUSC Health: The Medical University of South Carolina has organized podcasts with nurses, doctors, health care experts, medical school deans and other professionals here.
42. University of Virginia Health/Medicine: Recent shows on this podcast cover American health issues, global health, sexuality, caring for older patients, and Alzheimer's.
43. Instant Anatomy: Brush up on your anatomy education when you listen to this podcast.
44. NCLEX-RN Success Podcasts: Prep for the NCLEX-RN exam with the help of this podcast.
45. Cleveland Clinic Center for Continuing Education: Catch up on best practices, terminology, research, techniques and theories on diagnostics, biologics, bone health, infections, and a lot more.
46. Nursing ESL Podcasts: If you're an ESL student who's also studying to be a nurse, listen to these podcasts offered by the New Jersey City University for help with reading comprehension, research outlines, and more.
47. La Leche League International: If you're a nurse who works with new moms, visit this podcast series to learn about the latest in breastfeeding, and to educate your patients, too.
48. Medical Rounds: Find educational "on-demand medical education" in categories like neurology, pediatrics, general medicine, critical care, and more.
49. Nursing Continuing Education: Learn about the nature of nursing education, as well as specific health care topics, like melanoma or back pain.
50. CME Podcasting: Continuing Medical Education Podcasting lets you search podcasts or browse audio files and course materials dealing with a variety of medical disciplines, including medical illness, aging, and fibromyalgia.