One of my roles as a senior editor at AJN is to edit and maintain AJN’s blog. We try to publish a new post two to three times each week.

A percentage of these are original first-person nursing stories and perspectives by nurses in various specialties, from critical care to community health to oncology to school nursing. I often think of these as the lifeblood of the blog, the posts that can really reach people at the feeling level, and I am always grateful to receive them—from regular or first-time authors. These posts can be heartbreaking or gently humorous, or both. The range of styles and voices is wide.

Other equally important posts are those by nurses with an argument to make about an urgent issue in practice or policy. Some of these give rise to a certain amount of debate and stimulate further discussion in the nursing community.

In addition, a fair number of short posts are by AJN editors, in some cases bringing to bear their own clinical or personal experience as they address a matter of concern like nurse staffing, or providing essential context about why they think you should read an article found in that month’s issue.

As we’ve done in the past near the start of a new year, here’s a small selection of some of the most popular of the many posts we published the previous year. As we know, the progress of the pandemic took many twists and turns in 2021, and many posts were published to offer timely updates on vaccines, treatments, and the various policy and workplace issues faced by the public—and by nurses in particular. The short list below includes only the most-read posts by guest authors, and can’t possibly represent the wide range of topics covered month to month on this blog.

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Top Guest Posts of 2021

A Plea for Help in Making Nursing Sustainable
“Please. We are so weary but we want to keep our heart for this profession. We want to keep our heart for you and your loved ones when you land in our hospitals. But we are hurting and we cannot continue this way.”

Understanding Imposter Syndrome Among Nurses
“Self-doubt, uncomfortable feelings, and anxiety at times of transition, both in the workplace and in school, are normal.”

Who Cares for the Nurses Who Care for You?
“Disaster planning should identify provisions for disaster pay, paycheck protection, and loan and mortgage forgiveness, as well as extended job or disability protection for those who become sick while taking care of others.”

The First Injection
“I have never forgotten the support and belief the instructor provided to me almost 40 years ago. As a fragile student, I could have easily given up that day.”

‘But Where Are You Really From?’
“Amidst all these patients, I continue to practice what being a person of diversity has taught me: to show grace instead of taking offense with the patient who snaps at me, to have compassion because I know they are fighting their own battles—and equally important, to share humor with patients and coworkers when appropriate.”