Nurse

On her first day as a nurse, Frances Russell, 79, entered a hospital where only white patients were admitted to the second floor. Her standard nurse’s uniform included an ironed white dress, pointed white cap and solid white stockings, and her basic utensils included glass thermometers and rubber gloves. Much has changed at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center since that day in October 1963, and Russell has witnessed it all — the technological revolution that changed the face of health care and the social revolution that changed the heart.

Dear Editor, Samantha and I would like to say thank you to the off duty nurse who came to help after Samantha was hit by a car. I don't know your name, but just wanted you to know that we are grateful for your help. Samantha Shelton, Cindy Dominguez Danville

A nurse at Northpoint Training Center has filed a lawsuit alleging another nurse at the prison was allowed to perform medical duties for which she was not trained. Paula Conley filed the lawsuit last week in Mercer Circuit Court, naming the state Department of Corrections and Correctcare Integrated Health, which is contracted to provide medical services in the prison system, as defendants. The lawsuit invokes the state whistleblower statute, stating Conley was a protected employee who was wrongfully terminated from her job after reporting violations by the other nurse.

Peggy Butler's military experience covers a lot of ground including helping build a hospital in the desert during the Gulf War. A nurse with 21 years of military experience, the Danville woman first worked in a hospital near San Francisco where snipers fired on wounded Vietnam soldiers being moved from one hospital building to another.  Butler, who retired after spending 25 years teaching nursing students at Bluegrass Community and Technical College,...

Since I was an orderly many code blues and bedpans ago, I have always respected nurses, but I never aspired to be one. Too much chemistry. Too much training. Too much caring. Too many hours. But, for the second time in my life, I have been forced into nursing. For the second time in my life, I am moonlighting as a nurse, albeit on a unofficial, unregistered, private-duty basis. The patient in both cases is named Gwendolyn. "Miss G" entered this world with multiple health problems, including illnesses that affected her eyes, ears and lungs.

Danville police arrested a nurse Monday after an investigation showed that she had used her position to illegally obtain prescription medications. Detective Robert Ladd said that police served an arrest warrant on Carrie Dotson, 34, of Junction City at the offices of Dr. Beto and Dr. Bogardus on Fourth Street in Danville, where she is currently employed. Ladd said the investigation, which began last week, showed that Dotson had been obtaining hydrocodone, a narcotic pain reliever, by calling in erroneous prescriptions over the past year.

Thirty years worth of babies delivered at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center have at least one extra mom. That's how long Lois Rousey has been working in the maternity ward at the hospital. "Many of the patients who come in here now, I was working here when they were delivered," she said. "I know their parents. I feel like a mother to a lot of these patients. " Rousey has no children of her own, which may explain her attachment to her patients. "That's why all the children born here become my family, I guess.

The marriage of the Rev. Odis and Sharon Clark of Danville was made both in heaven and in a hospital. The couple met as teenagers nearly four decades ago at the old King's Daughters Hospital in Frankfort where he, a native of Shelby County, was an orderly and she, a native of Franklin County, was a candy striper. He went on to become an ordained minister. She, in effect, stayed in the hospital; that is to say, several hospitals as she went on to become a registered nurse. But while the two embarked on separate career paths, Sharon Clark has been keeping a foot on her husband's path while trodding down on her own. While pursuing her career outside the home as a nurse and her job inside the home as a mother during her 36-year marriage, she also has been serving a role in her husband's church, which for the last 28 years has been Danville's Indian Hills Christian - that very important and sometimes tricky role as a pastor's wife.

JUNCTION CITY - After 26 years as a nurse, Maxine Hackerson has found she has another talent that can be helpful to people. Hackerson had to give up nursing several years ago because of arthritis in her spine. She did some substitute teaching in Lincoln and Casey counties before discovering almost by accident that she enjoyed creating silk floral arrangements. Since February 2004, she has been the owner of Memorial Silks, etc., a full-service floral business. "I never dreamed I had any kind of talent," she said.

When she was a little girl growing up on a farm in the Mount Salem community of Lincoln County, Frances Russell already knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. And it had nothing to do with farming. "My nine brothers and sisters and I used to help with chores on our farm, and I decided that by the time I was old enough to leave home, I wasn't going to have anything more to do with tending to hogs, cows and chickens," says the seventh child of a railroader/farmer and homemaker/farmer.

Ephraim McDowell Health's Faith Community Nursing Program recently graduated eight nurses who now are credentialed as faith community nurses.  The nurses participated in a 47-hour continuing education program. Those that completed both the March and April classes graduated with a certificate and the title of faith community nurse. McDowell's service is a collaboration with nurses in faith communities throughout the region that help them create health-care programs or health ministries in their congregations.

Barbara "Bob" Burgin Leigh, 92, of Stanford, died Monday, April 15, at Golden Living Center in Stanford.   Born June 29, 1920, in Crab Orchard, Barbara was a daughter of the late Dr. Welby Wilson Burgin and Bettie Edminston Burgin. She was a retired nurse having worked at Stanford Hospital for 35 years and also as a private duty nurse. Barbara was a member of Stanford Baptist Church, a past member of the Democrat Women and the widow of C. James "Bug" Leigh, Jr.  Survivors include a son, James Burgin Leigh of Paris; a daughter, Jamie Brandt Leigh of Stanford; and two grandchildren, Natalie Brandt Leigh and Devon Redmon Leigh.

Ongoing issues with lack of payment from the managed care organizations that operates Kentucky's Medicaid system are putting a strain on health departments statewide. That, in turn, is causing a strain for school districts, many of which contract through the departments to help provide in-school care for their students.  According to Eva Stone, health coordinator for Boyle and Lincoln county school systems, the recent funding issues show that communities need to take a more active approach to the health of the children.

Minnie Lydia Trierweiler Olson entered her Heavenly Home on March 18 at Wesley Village in Wilmore. Minnie was born Sept. 6, 1911, at Staples, Minn., the daughter of Charles and Lydia Shannon Trierweiler. She graduated from Crosby Ironton High School in 1930 and from Asbury Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, Minneapolis, Minn., in 1933 as a registered nurse. She married Walter Olson on Dec. 12, 1933, and he preceded her in death on Aug. 8, 1993. Walt and Minnie were early pioneers in the settlement of Alaska and later returned to Minnesota, where she served as a nurse in the Moose Lake State Hospital.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I have to tell you about the love I have seen this past week. I have a question to pose to my readers. When is the last time you have been in a nursing home? If you are like myself, it is something you have not had the urge to do unless you are visiting a loved one who has been placed there. To be honest, that has been my experiences up to this point. I had only visited the nursing homes to go see aunts from both sides of our family.

Nurse practitioners work in every comer of Kentucky and are keenly aware of what goes into the state's disturbing health statistics. Kentucky ranks among the worst in the nation for diabetes, obesity and cancer, and unfortunately also ranks poorly regarding the number of practicing primary care physicians. This is not a good combination when it comes to those who need care. There are many regions across the state where a nurse practitioner or nurse midwife is the only full time primary care provider.

Writing a novel is about as far away from nursing as it gets but that's just what Tina Pollick has done. Her first novel, “Gabriel,” a paranormal romance, was published Jan. 23. Pollick said she started writing just last summer. “I'm a registered nurse, so writing a fiction novel is a whole new experience for me,” said the Lincoln County resident. Pollick said the main characters in “Gabriel” are the archangel Gabriel, registered nurse Calla Stevens, and “Kematians” - “who are demons ... or are they?

A telephone call from my oncology department made me very happy this week. At first, I answered the phone with a little trepidation just simply because of the origin of the call. After the caller informed me I was indeed who she wanted on the phone, she let me know that the nurse I had nominated for the Daisy Award had won. She went on to tell me she was anxious to meet me and that I was being invited to the awards ceremony for the recipient of the Daisy Award, Barbara Self. I should explain a little about what the Daisy Award entails.

Community Education, a program of the Clark County Schools, is offering two winter sessions of state registered nurse aide training: Session I : Tuesday/Thursday evening classes, Jan. 3 - Feb. 21, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Session II : Saturdays, Feb. 23 - April 20, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Each session is 75 hours and will consist of classroom instruction and clinical time. Cost is $270 (includes nonrefundable $10 registration fee). Additional costs include textbook and state exam fee. Call 745-3946 for more information or email lisa.stephens@clark.kyschools.us.  Checks can be made payable to Community Education and mailed to 24 W. Lexington Ave., Suite 220, Winchester, KY 40391.

Peggy Butler's military experience covers a lot of ground including helping build a hospital in the desert during the Gulf War. A nurse with 21 years of military experience, the Danville woman first worked in a hospital near San Francisco where snipers fired on wounded Vietnam soldiers being moved from one hospital building to another.  Butler, who retired after spending 25 years teaching nursing students at Bluegrass Community and Technical College,...