From saving lives off the job, achieving career milestones and more, here are 22 nurses who made headlines this year:
1. Sandra Lindsay, RN, a critical care nurse and intensive care unit director at New York City-based Long Island Jewish Medical Center, had her scrubs placed in the Smithsonian Museum of American History after becoming the first American to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Dec. 14, 2020.
2. On Feb. 28, Katelyn Spicer, RN, saved her neighbor from a burning home in Knoxville, Tenn.
3. Hollyanne Milley, RN, a cardiac nurse, administered CPR to a man who collapsed at the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Washington, D.C-based Arlington National Cemetery Nov. 11 until he began breathing again and paramedics arrived.
4. Police credited Kenzie Cox, RN, with saving a Maine resident's life in November. Ms. Cox performed CPR after seeing the man collapse in a parking lot.
5. Emily Roeder, RN, helped save the life of a former fire chief after he had a heart attack Aug. 21. Ms. Roeder was driving behind the man when he drove off the road after experiencing cardiac arrest, and she performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
6. Jill Hansen Holker, RN, a Utah ICU nurse, was released from Gainesville, Fla.-based UF Health Shands Hospital in February after a severe COVID-19 infection left her needing a double lung transplant.
7. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis honored Toni Moses, RN, an emergency department nurse at UCHealth in Greeley, during the Feb. 17 annual state of the state address for working through the pandemic while undergoing cancer treatment.
8. The National Football League chose Suzie Dorner, MSN, a nurse manager at Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital and two others to serve as honorary captains during Superbowl LV.
9. Lori Key, RN, a nurse at Livonia, Mich.-based St. Mary Mercy Hospital was selected to sing during a national memorial service Jan. 19 in Washington, D.C., honoring those who died from COVID-19 ahead of the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration.
10. In January, Loretta Ford, CRNP, PhD, a 100-year-old nurse who helped establish the nurse practitioner profession, received the Surgeon General's Medallion — the highest honor civilians can recieve for public health service.
11. Christine Kadu, RN, an off-duty nurse at Lansing, Mich.-based Sparrow Hospital, helped deliver a baby in the elevator of the hospital's parking lot Sept. 13.
12. A choir of nurses from Northwell Health was one of five groups to compete in the "America's Got Talent" finals Sept. 14. The Northwell Health Nurse Choir formed last year when nurses across the system's 23 hospitals came together to perform virtually for a nonprofit initiative, Nurse Heroes.
13. Ashley Darcy-Mahoney, PhD, an associate professor of nursing at Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University's Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute, launched a podcast called "The Future of Nursing" Aug. 31.
14. Carla Brown, RN, a Louisiana nurse who vaccinated 2,000 residents through a personal door-to-door effort, was recognized with a $25,000 honorarium Aug. 17, The Advocate reported.
15. When emergency room nurse Brooke Johns has a day off, she still heads back to Las Vegas-based Southern Hill Hospital to visit with patients and braid their hair.
16. Sandra Swenor of Massachusetts credited Cindy Edwards, RN, with saving her life after the nurse stepped in to deliver compressions when the woman experienced a seizure at a concert. Ms. Swenor was then taken to Backus Hospital in Norwich, Conn., where Ms. Edwards works.
17. Lori Ouding, RN, a pediatric nurse in Chicago, received a $15,000 grant from a city program to help fund her mission of starting a year-round indoor farmer's market called Food Matters in the city's Bronzeville neighborhood. Ms. Ouding's goal for the planned food hall is to improve nutrition and food access in the community.
18. Mississippi Heroes, a nonprofit organization that celebrates nonprofessional and professional caregivers, honored Efua Asieda, RN, a nurse at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport Oct. 18. She was nominated by a former cancer patient's wife, Rachel Barajas, who said Ms. Asieda was a constant support pillar during her late husband's cancer journey, even though Ms. Asieda was not their assigned nurse.
19. In November, the nursing team at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., celebrated their colleague, Janet Woods, RN, for 50 years as a pediatric nurse. Ms. Woods, who is 71 years old, has helped care for nearly 50,000 babies throughout her career and told CBS News she hasn't thought about retirement yet.
20. After a drive-by shooting at a park near Aurora (Colo.) Central High School in November, a local nurse, who asked not to be identified, placed tourniquets on several of the victims and cared for them until additional medical help arrived.
21. Julie Anderson, RN, was named the 2021 Minnesota Home Care Professional of the Year. Ms. Anderson, a pediatric home service nurse, was recognized for dedication and flexibility throughout the pandemic to accommodate patients' and their families' needs.
22. At a local high school football game, Jenny Botsford, BSN, an advanced registered nurse practitioner at Physicians' Clinic of Iowa in Cedar Rapids, and an off-duty police officer started CPR and saved the life of Pete King, who was working the concession stand when he collapsed in cardiac arrest, local ABC affiliate KCRG reported Dec. 7.