Many college students rarely have time for fun, which poses a serious threat to their mental and physical health. Content-heavy majors like nursing feel intense pressure to spend every moment studying notes. This article recommends movies about illnesses and health conditions for nursing majors to watch and learn from so that they can enjoy themselves guilt-free. These must-watch movies are an entertaining way to study, teaching you about nursing and helping you develop empathy for the future patients you will care for.
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Me Before You, The Notebook, and A Walk to Remember. If you do not want to read spoilers from these movies, please skip movies 4, 5, 7, and 8!
1. Brain on Fire (2016)
In this film based on a true story, Susannah Cahalan (Chloё Grace Moretz) is a perfectly healthy girl until she suddenly has episodes of confusion, paranoia, and aggression. Eventually, she has seizures and becomes catatonic. She faces several misdiagnoses until one doctor saves her life.
As a nurse or doctor, you won’t always know what is wrong with your patient right away. Unlike how many medical shows portray diagnoses, it isn’t always intuitive. Diagnoses, especially those of rare conditions, involve trial and error in high-stakes environments. However, when you finally get it right and save somebody’s life, the rewards are worth the stress.
Run time: 1 hr 35 min
Where to Watch: Netflix, tubi, Philo, Shout! TV, PLEX, Sling TV, FAWESOME
IMDb rating: 6.6/10
2. The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
In this film adaptation of the popular John Green novel, Hazel Grace is forced to go to a cancer support group. There, she meets a brooding teenage boy named Augustus Waters. She discovers they share many similar experiences and interests, and suddenly, she doesn’t feel so hopeless anymore. As their friendship blooms, they go on an incredible adventure to meet the author of Hazel Grace’s favorite book.
Cancer sucks. As future nurses and doctors, you will be surrounded by it, but you won’t know what it’s like unless you have it, which I sincerely hope no one reading this ever will. You might not know what it’s like to suffer through cancer and familiarize yourself with death, but empathizing with characters like Hazel Grace and Gus can help. The Fault in Our Stars explores various types of cancer and the vast impact it has on people, making it a must-watch movie for nursing majors.
Run time: 2 hr 6 min
IMDb rating: 7.6/10
3. Five Feet Apart (2019)
Stella (Haley Lu Richardson) has struggled with cystic fibrosis her entire life. She and her family always assumed she would die in a hospital, not fall in love. When Will (Cole Sprouse) comes along, she can’t stop herself from falling for him. The only problem? Will has cystic fibrosis, too, so they cannot be within six feet of each other without compromising their fragile immune systems.
Patients in this movie explore the limitations of their bodies and the rules that keep them safe. This puts the nurses in the unfair position of being the bad guys to protect them. As nurses, you will probably not be liked. You might have things thrown at you, be insulted, be overworked, etc. It’s not an easy job, but it’s so worthwhile to see someone get a second chance at life and know that you had a part in that. This movie will break your heart, but above all, it will teach you how to accept that there are no happy endings, but there are happy new beginnings.
Run time: 1 hr 57 min
Where to Watch: Rent/buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, PLEX, ROW8, Fandango At Home
IMDb rating: 7.2/10
4. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
Greg Gaines, an insecure teenager and amateur filmmaker, is intent on having only the most superficial relationships. However, his plan to survive high school is ruined when his mom forces him to spend time with Rachel, who was diagnosed with leukemia. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking while it explores many complexities of life: interpersonal relationships, labels, expectations, and self-worth.
This movie focuses more on the dying girl than the nurses, who get about ten seconds on screen time at the end of the movie, but it gives insight into why some cancer patients choose to end treatment. From the outside, many people can’t fathom how someone could just give up on their life, but it’s not your job to understand. As future nurses, it will be your job to care for people in their last moments, when they are at their worst.
Run time: 1 hr 45 min
Where to Watch: Rent/buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango At Home
IMDb rating: 7.7/10
5. Me Before You (2016)
Sunny and optimistic Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) is desperate for money to support her family, so she jumps at the chance to care for William Traynor (Sam Claflin), a cynical young man who was paralyzed from the neck down. As she cares for him, she becomes attached to his personality and perspective of living your life to the fullest.
Me Before You is known for its heartbreaking controversy that questions the ethicality of assisted suicide. With every day that Will is alive, he suffers excruciating physical and emotional pain as he remembers his old life. Long before he met Louisa, he decided to meet with doctors to pursue physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and end his pain. In a desperate attempt to change his mind, his mother hired bubbly Louisa. Beyond the incredible plot and acting, Me Before You is a must-watch movie because it forces nursing majors to consider how their stance on PAS and where they should consequently practice their nursing. Regardless of your stance, this film showcases the importance of empathy from nurses and doctors who can never understand what their patients are going through.
Run time: 1 hr 50 min
Where to Watch: Prime Video, MGM+, Fubo
IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
6. My Sister’s Keeper (2009)
A young girl (Abigail Breslin) who was born to keep her sister with leukemia alive seeks medical emancipation from her parents. Based on the 2004 novel of the same name, this film explores a dysfunctional family that has been plagued with a disease that none know how to cope with.
My Sister’s Keeper is such an important film for nursing majors because it delves into the ethicality of organ and marrow donations, especially in cases where consent is not possible. What does it mean to be human beyond basic anatomy? What rights do we have to our own bodies?
Run time: 1 hr 49 min
Where to Watch: Pluto TV, tubi, PLEX, Sling TV
IMDb rating: 7.3/10
7. The Notebook (2004)
After a romantic summer in the 1940s, star-crossed lovers Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) are torn apart by Allie’s disapproving parents. Noah never gets over her, even after she gets engaged to another man (James Marsden). In the present time, a man (James Garner) cares for his wife (Gena Rowlands), whose Alzheimer’s disease prevents her from knowing who he is.
Alzheimers is one of the most terrifying diseases out there. You lose the memory of your loved ones, and as such, you lose yourself. It’s a tragic condition that we are learning more about every day. While there’s still no cure, you must be prepared as nurses to not only care for your patients but also for their loved ones.
Run time: 2 hr 1 min
Where to Watch: Rent/buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, PLEX, ROW8, Fandango At Home
IMDb rating: 7.8/10
8. A Walk to Remember
A teenage boy with aspirations of becoming a doctor loses himself when he befriends bad influences to cope with his dad leaving. After a tragic accident, Landon is forced to turn his life around. In the process, he gets to know Jamie, the pastor’s daughter, who teaches him about faith in the face of adversity.
Life isn’t fair. Death is even less fair. But that’s exactly why you should make the most of what little time you have. As nurses and doctors, you won’t always be able to perform miracles. Sometimes, the most you can do is make what little time someone has special. While that job is not strictly reserved for those in the medical field, you will have many more opportunities to change someone’s life than anyone else.
Run time: 1 hr 40 min
Where to Watch: Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, Shout! TV, Roku Channel, tubi, Sling TV, Xumo Play, FAWESOME, Pluto TV, freevee, Peacock, PLEX
IMDb Rating: 7.3/10
Takeaway
As you watch these films, I hope you learn more about the health industry—whether that’s increased empathy for your patients’ suffering, the detriment of illness on a patient and their community, ethical dilemmas such as physician-assisted suicide and marrow/organ donations, or how you will be treated as nurses.
