As is our tradition in the final weeks of the calendar year, we’d like to share the 10 most popular AJN blog posts of 2017. Most of these posts are by nurses who somehow find time to write in the midst of busy nursing and personal lives. One or two are by AJN editors. Not all, but most, are written by nurses.

What are the posts about? A few discuss aspects of notable health care topics covered by AJN in the past year. But most tell stories from personal experience or explore issues of importance to nurses in their careers. The nurse’s daily enounter with the physical and emotional needs of patients is a frequent subtext, as might be expected.

How to Support the Nurse in Your Life
“A job this intense isn’t so easily contained in a separate professional box. For nurses to live healthier, more integrated lives, we need space for our experience, and this is how our friends and family can help.”

A Nurse Takes a Stand—and Gets Arrested
“Nurses everywhere can draw inspiration from Alex Wubbels and her confidence and use the incident as a lens for self-reflection on our own behavior in difficult circumstances—and as a model for how to behave in the future.”

A Closer Look at the Joint Commission’s New Guidelines for Pain Assessment and Management
“Starting on January 1, 2018, the Joint Commission’s new and revised pain assessment and management standards for accredited hospitals will go into effect. Here are some crucial details.”

Tips for Nurses to Counter Workplace Negativity
“Negativity is a lot like cigarette smoke. If it’s around, you know it.”

Those Who Comfort Us
“Some nurses might say they were just doing their job. But the simplest things—a touch, a gesture, kind words, a connection—can provide comfort in an otherwise comfortless situation.”

Should Adults Experiencing In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Be Intubated?
“Although it’s commonly practiced, results from a large new study call into question the effectiveness of intubating adults who experience in-hospital cardiac arrest.

Nurses Try Out Plant-Based Diet, Report Health Benefits
“Even without rigidly adhering to a plant-based diet, the nurses lost weight, lowered their cholesterol levels, and felt better.”

When Brokenness Transforms Nursing
“I’ve had opportunities to sit in peer interview panels for new grad nurses looking to start their career in our unit, an experience which prompted me to consider what it takes to be a good nurse.”

Report Draws Attention to Nurse Burnout, Seeks to Restore Joy to Profession
“This is perhaps the most important recommendation of all: Transform the conversation to one about restoring joy to the profession. Talking about burned-out nurses is a negative; nurses say they are shamed and blamed for the burnout.”

The Limitations of Rating Nursing Care by Customer Surveys
“Nurses do not meet patients at their best. Patients are sick, afraid, often in pain, and adapt differently to crisis. Some patients view nurses as lifesavers; others experience hospitalization, and nursing care, as all part of an ordeal that must be endured.”

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