Becker's has covered the leadership efforts of dozens of nurses who made headlines in the first eight months of the year:
Note: The list begins with the most recent stories.
After a 3-month-old baby stopped breathing during a flight, Tamara Panzino, a retired nurse, jumped in and performed a sternal rub, helping the baby to breathe again, WESH reported Sept. 11.
Pediatric intensive care unit nurse Christina Barker, RN, helped care for a swimmer after a shark attack in Monterey Bay, Calif., WIBW reported Sept. 8.
Jean Kingery retired after a 45-year career as a labor and delivery nurse at what is now AdventHealth Hinsdale, Ill.
The CDC tapped nursing leader Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, to lead a major revamp of the agency. She led the Health Resources and Services Administration, a division of HHS, during most of the Obama administration.
Debbie Layton, RN, a nurse Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, was recently reunited with Ben Hellebusch, a quadruplet she helped deliver 22 years ago who was doing clinical rotations as a nursing student at the hospital, Good Morning America reported Aug. 26.
Amanda Herbert, a nursing manager at Heart Hospital of Austin, Texas, organized a blood drive Aug. 24 to help ensure supplies ahead of Labor Day weekend, FOX 7 Austin reported.
Charleston, S.C., nurse Zakihia Moultrie, BSN, RN, known as Nurse Zee, has launched a new organization called Black Women in Medicine, local ABC affiliate WCIV reported Aug. 23. The organization will hold health affairs and events for Black women already working in healthcare and mentor students who plan on becoming healthcare professionals in the future.
Kathy Hostetter, LPN, has spent 40 years as a nurse at San Luis Valley Health in Alamosa, Colo., the health system said Aug. 19.
Nicole Kelly, a registered nurse at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, Mass., and her sister, who is a paramedic, helped save an unresponsive passenger while on a flight, Boston.com reported Aug. 15. They determined the passenger was having a diabetic emergency and gave her sugar packets to help her regain consciousness.
Shyanne Brandon, RN, a nurse at Integris Health Miami (Okla.) Hospital, was recognized for pulling an unconscious woman from a pool after witnessing the near-drowning incident. Ms. Brandon led life-saving measures until EMS arrived and transported the woman to the hospital, local NBC affiliate KSN reported Aug. 10.
The American Academy of Nursing on Aug. 10 named six nursing leaders living legends, its highest honor, for their contributions to healthcare. The nurses recognized were Jane Barnsteiner, PhD, MSN, RN; William Holzemer, PhD, BSN, RN; Jeanette Ives Erickson, DNP, RN; Norma Martinez Rogers, PhD, MSN, RN; Joyce Newman Giger, APRN; and Franklin Shaffer, BSN, RN. Click here to read more about the leaders.
Doernbecher Children's Hospital's oldest and longest-serving nurse, Bancy Gatimu, 69, retired Aug. 3 after 43 years with the organization, The Oregonian reported.
Kim Still, RN, a nurse at Northside Hospital Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Ga., adopted the dog of a terminally ill patient she cared for after the patient passed away, ABC affiliate WSB-TV reported July 27.
A behavioral health nurse at Richmond, Va.-based Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital named Anne made her way down an embankment after noticing a school bus accident while driving on April 21. She and other witnesses helped rescue the children and the bus driver after the accident, local NBC affiliate WWBT reported July 26. The report did not include the nurse's last name.
Muriel Engelman, a veteran Army nurse who served on the front lines of World War II, died June 30, The Washington Post reported July 20. She was 101.
Teresa Sheffer, RN, marked her 35th year at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported July 18. She has worked across the three-hospital pediatric system during her nursing career.
May Parsons, a U.K. nurse, was among recipients of the George Cross Award in recognition for delivering the world's first COVID-19 vaccine. Queen Elizabeth II presented the award to Ms. Parsons and other National Health Service leaders at Windsor Castle July 12, BBC News reports.
Michigan nurse Jacob Moran, RN, made it to the top 20 of "American Idol" during the latest season that ended in May, nurse.org reported July 11. After earning his nursing degree, he began his career as a medical-oncology floor nurse and has since moved to rheumatology infusion clinic.
The Novick Cardiac Alliance selected Sara Elizabeth Curry, RN, a nurse with more than 30 years of experience, to travel to Ukraine in June to treat pediatric heart surgery patients. Ms. Curry is a nurse at Augusta (Ga.) University Health, WRDW reported July 11.
Sandra Lindsay, RN, a nurse who made history as the first American vaccinated against COVID-19, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom July 7.
Bryan Tune, PhD, DNP, CRNA, an assistant professor of nursing at California State University Fresno, recently completed the 13th medical mission trip of his 20-year nursing career. He volunteered in the city of Daule in Ecuador as part of the "Healthy Women" projection, which provided gynecologic surgical care and general surgery care, Fresno State News reported June 17.
Memorial Healthcare System's longest-serving employee and first nurse leader of color, Barbara Williams, RN, is planning to retire after 53 years with the Hollywood, Fla.-based system, CBS News reported June 15.
Jenna Engelsvold, DNP, a nurse practitioner at Seattle Children's, participated in a trip to deliver more than 1,000 pounds of medical supplies to the border of Ukraine in March.
Dayna Topham, RN, a nurse at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, saved a man's life during a baseball game in Murray, Utah. After Darren Ewell collapsed of a heart attack, Ms. Topham ran to administer CPR before first responders from the police and fire department took over. Mr. Ewell's physician said he likely would not have survived otherwise, ABC4 reported June 8.
Skie Moore, RN, a travel ER nurse from Fort Worth, Texas, fostered a homeless patient's dog Charlie when Charlie's owner was admitted into the hospital. Ms. Moore currently works at a public hospital that cares for a large majority of homeless patients, many of whom come into the ER with their pets because they don't have anywhere else to take them. Ms. Moore has been sharing updates on her social media and stayed in contact with the patient as she cares for the dog, nurse.org reported June 8.
Lorilea Johnson, DNP, a nurse practitioner at Cape Girardeau (Mo.) VA Health Center, has developed a triage protocol urgent care providers can use to evaluate chest pain, local NBC affiliate WPSD reported June 6.
Manny Remilus, RN, a nurse at Northwell Health's Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York City, was among members of the Northwell Health nurses choir — a group that made it to the finals on the television show "America's Got Talent." On the job, Mr. Remilus also turns to music to bring children's hospital stays brighter, CBS News reported May 19.
San Diego nurse Ana Wilkinson, RN, volunteered with the Global Disaster Relief Team to offer medical assistance in Ukraine, local ABC affiliate KGTV reported April 27. She became known as the "dancing nurse" at the start of the pandemic for posting upbeat dancing videos with other medical professionals while volunteering at hospitals in New York City.
Kristan Cantrell, RN, a nurse at Baptist Health Floyd in New Albany, Ind., on March 15 pulled a woman from a car crash before the car was engulfed in flames, local CBS affiliate WLKY reported April 18. She received the hospital's good Samaritan award for the lifesaving effort.
Sam Roecker, RN, of Penn Medicine's Perelman Center in Philadelphia, ran the Boston Marathon in her scrubs to raise awareness for nurses' well-being and mental health, FOX 29 Philadelphia and The Philadelphia Inquirer report.
Local NBC News affiliate WSMV4 reported that Nataliya Shinkarev, RN, a nurse in Nashville, Tenn., found a volunteer to help 20 of her friends and family members escape Kharkiv — one of Ukraine's largest cities that has been targeted amid the conflict with Russia — and get to Croatia.
Andrea Leiner, MSN, an emergency management nurse practitioner in southwest Florida, traveled to Ukraine for 18 days in March to care for critical patients hurt in rocket attacks. She went back for a second trip in mid-April, Wink News reports.
Natalia Iantsevych, BSN, a nurse practitioner from Ukraine who works at Maine Medical Center in Portland, headed to Poland to deliver medical supplies for Ukrainian refugees, local ABC affiliate WMTW News 8 reported March 6.
Karen Giuliano, PhD, MSN, associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, and Dian Baker, PhD, MSN, professor emeritus at Sacramento (Calif.) State University, have received a $750,000 grant to lead a study evaluating the role oral hygiene plays in preventing hospital-acquired pneumonia, according to a March 1 news release.
Phyllis Cayer, RN, a pediatric home care nurse, has hand-sewed 200 unique pillowcases and 50 quilts for patients at Providence, R.I.-based Hasbro Children's Hospital, local NBC affiliate WJAR reported February 24. Ms. Cayer previously made headlines at the start of the pandemic for hand-sewing free face masks for those in need.
Brianna Guillory, a licensed vocational nurse in Houston, created an app to help home healthcare nurses address critical wounds. The app connects nurses and patients with wound care specialists to identify and properly treat the wound, FOX 26 Houston reported Feb. 22.
To make hospital stays a bit brighter for her patients amid the pandemic, Ly Truong, RN, BSN, clinical nurse coordinator in the intensive care unit at St. David's Children's Hospital in Austin, Texas, takes children's requests and creates paintings and illustrations on their room windows, local ABC affiliate KVUE reported Feb. 13.
After her mother died of breast cancer, Klisa Hargrove-Loper, DNP, CRNA, a nurse anesthetist at AtlantiCare in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., started the Paula Hargrove Foundation. The foundation provides care bags to breast cancer patients, each stocked with $150 worth of necessities, local ABC affiliate WPVI reported Feb. 10.
Paula Richardson, an intensive care unit nurse at Atlanta-based Emory Medical Center, estimates she's tested 40,000 patients for COVID-19. She began bringing tests to Black communities via a mobile testing unit in her own car in February 2021 and seven months later, received a federal grant to launch an in-person testing and vaccination site in South Dekalb, Ga., The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Feb. 10.
After working nearly 50 years as a nurse, Cindy Roden, RN, came out of retirement to work as a nurse in the short-staffed COVID-19 unit at Aicota Health Care Center, a nursing home in Aitkin, Minn., the Minnesota Reformer reported Jan. 27.
The city of Richmond Hill, Ga., allowed local nurse practitioners Kathryn Strickland, MSN, and Amber Brown, MSN, to start their own pop-up COVID-19 testing site — Friendly Neighborhood NP — after the nurses saw high demand when they started doing house calls for COVID-19 testing in October, local CBS affiliate WTOC reported Jan. 11.