What do you think?
Rate this book
Off the Charts
Stories full of infectious, hospital-grade humour and loads of heart, from Australia's favourite nurse.Showering in gumboots. Bomb threats. Tables of turds. Welcome to the life of a nurse.Nurses are our number-one unsung heroes. They're the ones in the trenches mopping up bodily fluids, holding hands, keeping things ticking - and always with a smile on their face. In Off the Charts, Australia's favourite straight-talking nurse and comedian Georgie Carroll lets you peek behind the curtains to see the inner workings of a hospital. Taking us ward to ward, limb to limb, stitch to stitch, Georgie does not hold back as she shows us the human fragility and fierceness she sees every day at work.This is a laugh-out-loud funny celebration of the big-hearted, no-bullsh*t nurses who, sooner or later, play a huge role in all of our lives.SHORTLISTED FOR THE RUSSELL PRIZE FOR HUMOUR WRITING 2023Praise for Georgie Caroll'Georgie Carroll is ... infectiously funny' The Age'With her boisterous bedside manner and tales of behdind-the-scenes hospital hijinks, she's exactly what the doctor ordered.' Adelaide Advertiser
198 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 27, 2021
34 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
April 29, 2021
Georgie Carroll, a nurse and stand-up comedienne, has written a light hearted look behind the scenes at what it means to be a nurse. She started her nursing career in England with the NHS and then emigrated to Australia where she also nursed in Australian hospitals.
Using her wide experience, Georgie walks us through each section of the hospital from admissions to the morgue. If you've ever seen her standup routines you'll be familiar with her three stages of nursing (dolphin, penguin and orca), that she explains in the book as young graduate nurses move through the system to eventually become the toughened, experienced old hands who run the hospital wards. While her approach is gently humorous, it was more in the nature of a fond memoir than a book full of hilarious anecdotes, and didn't fully engage my interest. It will be of most interest to those who have ever wondered what it's really like to be a nurse in our busy, modern hospitals. 3.5★
With thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia and Netgalley for a copy to read
Using her wide experience, Georgie walks us through each section of the hospital from admissions to the morgue. If you've ever seen her standup routines you'll be familiar with her three stages of nursing (dolphin, penguin and orca), that she explains in the book as young graduate nurses move through the system to eventually become the toughened, experienced old hands who run the hospital wards. While her approach is gently humorous, it was more in the nature of a fond memoir than a book full of hilarious anecdotes, and didn't fully engage my interest. It will be of most interest to those who have ever wondered what it's really like to be a nurse in our busy, modern hospitals. 3.5★
With thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia and Netgalley for a copy to read
June 29, 2021
This pains me to write because my partner and I went to Georgie Carroll’s comedy show at the Adelaide Fringe and she was absolutely hilarious. Like holding your ribs and choking on your spit funny.
But this book… I just didn’t like it. I am a nursing student so very new to the healthcare scene, and the healthcare references were not the bother. The stories about her life as a nurse were interesting and funny, but it was just everything else in between. I didn’t connect with her story telling and I didn’t find her explanations of stuff like allied health workers to be funny.
It was just a miss for me, clearly not my form of comedy. I, however, would go and see her show again, maybe I just like her better in real life format. 🤷🏼♀️
But this book… I just didn’t like it. I am a nursing student so very new to the healthcare scene, and the healthcare references were not the bother. The stories about her life as a nurse were interesting and funny, but it was just everything else in between. I didn’t connect with her story telling and I didn’t find her explanations of stuff like allied health workers to be funny.
It was just a miss for me, clearly not my form of comedy. I, however, would go and see her show again, maybe I just like her better in real life format. 🤷🏼♀️
May 1, 2021
It's impossible to review without spoilers, but suffice to say it had me in stitches in places and I loved her inclusion of her husband Steve throughout and the 'Men's Health section' 🤣I also loved the Surgical Unit section and the comparisons between private and public health as it all just resonated with me and again, was completely hilarious. I had to go online while reading this to watch Georgie and I absolutely recommend it, though the content really is only suitable for us adults.
November 9, 2021
Great book, loved the hospital humour!
March 23, 2025
A few funny stories that nurses will relate to. Her live comedy is funnier.
June 14, 2021
Being a health care professional, I can’t help but be drawn to anything health care related. When I saw that Nurse Georgie Carroll was performing at the Adelaide Fringe last year, I knew I had to see her - and I’m so glad I did. She is absolutely hilarious. Imagine my excitement when I found out she had written a book!
I absolutely devoured this book. Georgie writes with such warmth and humour, I found myself laughing out loud at so much of what I was reading.
Throughout the book, Georgie shares her life growing up and then working as a nurse. There are countless anecdotes, which would be enjoyed both by those who do and do not work in health.
Georgie reminds me so much of one of the amazing nurses I work with, which made me love the book even more (and I know they have worked together previously. I wish I was on shift with them together, I think I would wet myself laughing).
Do yourself a favour and get this book - and also check out YouTube clips of the live show, you won’t regret it!
Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillanaus for the review copy!
I absolutely devoured this book. Georgie writes with such warmth and humour, I found myself laughing out loud at so much of what I was reading.
Throughout the book, Georgie shares her life growing up and then working as a nurse. There are countless anecdotes, which would be enjoyed both by those who do and do not work in health.
Georgie reminds me so much of one of the amazing nurses I work with, which made me love the book even more (and I know they have worked together previously. I wish I was on shift with them together, I think I would wet myself laughing).
Do yourself a favour and get this book - and also check out YouTube clips of the live show, you won’t regret it!
Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillanaus for the review copy!
April 26, 2021
Georgie is more well known for comedy than her nursing, in this book she combines the two, taking us on a journey through her nursing career, using her particular brand of humour.
If you have seen her stand up act you will be familiar with her 'three stages of nursing' ( working in hospital myself is entirely accurate) and that is the reference for this book.
Nurses/health professionals would be more likely to appreciate Georgie's witt, and way of thinking but I did find at times some things not funny or in poor taste
Still worth a read though
If you have seen her stand up act you will be familiar with her 'three stages of nursing' ( working in hospital myself is entirely accurate) and that is the reference for this book.
Nurses/health professionals would be more likely to appreciate Georgie's witt, and way of thinking but I did find at times some things not funny or in poor taste
Still worth a read though
August 12, 2021
Not the book to read in bed when your partner is sleeping - I was shaking many times, holding in the laughter. There were moments that didn’t hit the mark but more laughter-inducing and eye-opening moments.
July 10, 2021
Funny, but more than that, reassuring. Humans are just bags of blood with a skin casing.
July 4, 2021
It wasn’ t as funny as I thought. Also very often the author drifts off in her own world from one thing to the next (often not nurse related) and I didn’t understand a lot of the ‘jokes’. The beginning about the orcas, penguins and dolphins is funny but that’s about it. I expected funny nurses stories as I am sure there are a lot and every nurse would have plenty of ‘material’ to fill books, but if you are after that sort of thing maybe not the right book for you.
July 23, 2021
I loved this book, it made for easy, light reading. As I myself am a registered nurse and member of the medical profession, I definitely felt that it resonated with many of the issues we all face, and made me laugh out loud many times. Despite this, I felt that at times it went off in tangents and kind of rambled on with no real point. I feel that there could've been more time spent on anecdotal stories, and less on ramblings of random subject matter. I did enjoy it though, and the laugh out loud instances definitely made up for the odd and at times random tangents.
January 8, 2025
'Off the Charts' by Georgie Carroll is a humorous and candid memoir from a seasoned nurse, offering an inside look at life in the high-pressure world of healthcare. Through funny, relatable anecdotes and sharp observations, Carroll shares her experiences working on the front lines of the NHS, dealing with everything from chaotic shifts to unforgettable patients. She reflects on the challenges of her career, the absurdities of hospital life, and the emotional toll of caring for others.
As an English born, migrated to Aus, specifically SA, health care adjacent worker, I felt instantly connected to Georgie. This book made me laugh out loud at multiple stories and gave me the warm feeling of a tough loving English mum. This book is full of funny stories and a great laugh with great English humour.
As an English born, migrated to Aus, specifically SA, health care adjacent worker, I felt instantly connected to Georgie. This book made me laugh out loud at multiple stories and gave me the warm feeling of a tough loving English mum. This book is full of funny stories and a great laugh with great English humour.
September 12, 2021
One of the funniest books I've ever read, if you haven't already read it, you absolutely must!!
July 10, 2021
Georgie is a comedian and long time nurse and in between both careers, has managed to write this book about the highs, lows, politics and hilarity of the health care system. With hilarious tales from her own vault, this one is a gem that is very easy to read. My fave was the step by step instructions on how to wash a fanny! A great read and massive thanks to Georgie and all nurses for what you deal with each day. .
July 10, 2021
Georgie Carroll's effortlessly humorous Off the Charts tells the infectious, hilarious and often bizarre stories of life as a nurse. A book of anecdotes and opinion pieces shaped from experiences only ever found in a hospital, it regals with bomb threats, ER trips, workplace hazards and home visits. Infectiously funny, this book is impossible to put down.
June 14, 2021
I'm a qualified nurse now.
August 12, 2021
an abslolute hoot! nurse humor at its finest.
nice and quick. didnt drag, well structured.
all you nay sayers have never been on the giving end of healthcare!
nice and quick. didnt drag, well structured.
all you nay sayers have never been on the giving end of healthcare!
February 5, 2022
Loved it, could relate to alot of the content, being a "penguin" and proud of it. Every nurse, wannabe nurse or just plain interested in an actual nursing perspective, give this a read.
February 20, 2022
A little slow to start but overall a hilarious read.
July 30, 2021
A humorous view on a nurse's life in and out of hospital. As well as relating the funny things that happen to both staff and patients, Georgie Carroll offers some tongue in cheek advice on healthy exercise and diet, some insight into various medical acronyms, and descriptions of the many support roles (e.g. dietitians, physiotherapists etc) I found myself giggling aloud several times.
A very enjoyable "read" as I listened to the author reading it with a typical comedian's timing and self deprecation.
Showering in gumboots. Bomb threats. Tables of turds. Welcome to the life of a nurse.
Nurses are our number-one unsung heroes. They're the ones in the trenches mopping up bodily fluids, holding hands, keeping things ticking - and always with a smile on their face. In Off the Charts, Australia's favourite straight-talking nurse and comedian Georgie Carroll lets you peek behind the curtains to see the inner workings of a hospital. Taking us ward to ward, limb to limb, stitch to stitch, Georgie does not hold back as she shows us the human fragility and fierceness she sees every day at work.
This is a laugh-out-loud funny celebration of the big-hearted, no-b*llshit nurses who, sooner or later, play a huge role in all of our lives.
A very enjoyable "read" as I listened to the author reading it with a typical comedian's timing and self deprecation.
Showering in gumboots. Bomb threats. Tables of turds. Welcome to the life of a nurse.
Nurses are our number-one unsung heroes. They're the ones in the trenches mopping up bodily fluids, holding hands, keeping things ticking - and always with a smile on their face. In Off the Charts, Australia's favourite straight-talking nurse and comedian Georgie Carroll lets you peek behind the curtains to see the inner workings of a hospital. Taking us ward to ward, limb to limb, stitch to stitch, Georgie does not hold back as she shows us the human fragility and fierceness she sees every day at work.
This is a laugh-out-loud funny celebration of the big-hearted, no-b*llshit nurses who, sooner or later, play a huge role in all of our lives.
May 5, 2021
Off The Charts by Georgie Carroll is an extraordinarily different book to anything I’ve previously read. It is outrageously amusing with very frank and blatant depiction of nurses and healthcare environments. The author’s descriptions are explicit with a running commentary that I found very entertaining but also probably a little over the top at times. I haven’t been a nurse but some of the work related issues are certainly universal; however many of the nurse related issues are obviously specific to that profession who have to deal with a lot! There are some parts I wish I never read as it will be hard to keep some of the images out of my mind - for example chasing a male patient around to stop him pissing on other patients, in bins etc etc... There is worse but I can’t bring myself to repeat them. You will have to read this yourself.
Thank you to Netgalley and publisher PanMacmillan Australia for a copy to read and review.
Thank you to Netgalley and publisher PanMacmillan Australia for a copy to read and review.
May 19, 2021
As a book seller "humour" is one of the hardest genres to recommend. Humour is so subjective and this book is a prime example; apparently Georgie Carroll is a comic, apparently she has won awards for her comedy stylings but I just didn't find this book funny.
Maybe it is a matter of delivery? What is hilarious delivered in person fails to lift off the page? Maybe my sense of humour just doesn't align with hers? Whatever the reason this one fell flat for me. I read about a third and skimmed over the rest about the only things I found funny were the "Book-Work Bloopers".
Perhaps if you are in the medical field you will laugh, cringe, and find yourself nodding along with familiarity?
Maybe it is a matter of delivery? What is hilarious delivered in person fails to lift off the page? Maybe my sense of humour just doesn't align with hers? Whatever the reason this one fell flat for me. I read about a third and skimmed over the rest about the only things I found funny were the "Book-Work Bloopers".
Perhaps if you are in the medical field you will laugh, cringe, and find yourself nodding along with familiarity?
January 8, 2023
Pg270
If you are lucky life is long amd even the luckiest have to overcome adversity, so it is worth finding a way to enjoy it. Perhaps tap into your inner baby, who was deeply loved by someone or many and was more than willing to accept others help. Perhaps remember yourself as a toddler, naked and unashamed, loving you and your little fat belly sick. Channel your inner child, the part of you that found wonder in the most mundane of new skills given best efforts. There is something to learn even from the teenager, to have the courage of your convictions and fall in love hard if it presents itself. These are all qualities we have that are best not forgotten.
If you are lucky life is long amd even the luckiest have to overcome adversity, so it is worth finding a way to enjoy it. Perhaps tap into your inner baby, who was deeply loved by someone or many and was more than willing to accept others help. Perhaps remember yourself as a toddler, naked and unashamed, loving you and your little fat belly sick. Channel your inner child, the part of you that found wonder in the most mundane of new skills given best efforts. There is something to learn even from the teenager, to have the courage of your convictions and fall in love hard if it presents itself. These are all qualities we have that are best not forgotten.
June 23, 2021
I am a nurse and thought this would be right up my alley. They where some funny bits in there but I really was not a fan of 80% of the book. The humour to me was not funny. Some parts where just plain rude. I felt this completely missed the mark and don’t understand the point at all of this book. Super disappointed
July 29, 2021
For those of us who have worked in hospitals, there are many 'Oh yes!' moments. For those who haven't had this pleasure, READ THIS. Especially if your loved one or yourself is due to go in for a stay.
Be thankful when you walk out of the hospital doors because there are some souls who don't.
Also, take the time to be kind and compassionate to all of those who work in this industry.
Be thankful when you walk out of the hospital doors because there are some souls who don't.
Also, take the time to be kind and compassionate to all of those who work in this industry.
October 1, 2021
Infectiously funny to the extreme! It just felt like a stand up comedy show all along, especially as I listened to the audiobook version. @nurse_georgie_carroll is a very frank, realistic, no bullshit nurse with a huge heart and passion for what she does. A must if you are looking for an easy read!
August 22, 2022
I loved it, it's hilarious. I'm the Penguin that is described in the book. While reading it, many times I nodded and thought, yeah, I've seen it, heard and experienced it. I always feel nurses have different humor because most of the things we deal with at work are not involved in other careers. A sense of humor is also necessary at work in nursing as we face many sad things at work.
April 13, 2023
From one Georgie from Adelaide to another Georgie from Adelaide ... a great read! :)
Read it over a few days. Lots of funny bits with a few serious bits thrown in for good measure. Georgie is a nurse with many years of experience behind her. She has managed to blend comedy and the ins and outs of nursing together in an interesting, respectful, and LOL read. Definitely recommend.
Read it over a few days. Lots of funny bits with a few serious bits thrown in for good measure. Georgie is a nurse with many years of experience behind her. She has managed to blend comedy and the ins and outs of nursing together in an interesting, respectful, and LOL read. Definitely recommend.
October 10, 2021
I thought I'd love this much more than I did. I have enjoyed seeing her comedy on TV. A lot of these stories aren't as hilarious as I would thought. Medical comedy can be hard. As a nurse I understand where she's coming from but ...
October 10, 2021
I love medical autobiographies. Like many lawyers, maybe I am a frustrated doctor. This one was fine. Georgie is a fabulous nurse, warm-hearted, funny and kind and this book had lots of great stories, but it wasn't as funny as I had hoped, maybe a bit more crude than I prefer.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews