Nurse

The nursing program at Hagerstown Community College was recently awarded accreditation by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. Although HCC's nursing program has been fully accredited by the Maryland Board of Nursing since the associate degree program began in 1969 and the practical nursing program began in 2003, this is the first time officials at HCC voluntarily went through the review process for national accreditation by the accrediting organization. “This is one of the most rigorous evaluations of all nursing accreditations and we are just thrilled to have been successful in our attempt to earn accreditation,” said Karen Hammond, HCC's director of nursing.

Penn State Mont Alto will change its nursing program from a two-year degree to a four-year degree beginning in the fall of 2014. “Hospitals are changing their employment pattern. They aren't hiring associate degree nurses like they had in the past. They are looking for the entry-level professional, which is the bachelor's degree,” said Carranda Barkdoll, Penn State Mont Alto's coordinator for nursing. As the health care delivery system increases in complexity, more education is needed to support the nurses who must navigate it, Barkdoll said.

Mary Bigham Knox, 95, a resident of Gettysburg, Pa., and a longtime resident of Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., died Monday evening, March 18, 2013, at St. Catherine's Nursing Center in Emmitsburg, Md., where she had lived since 2011. Born Feb. 11, 1918, in Gettysburg, Mary was the daughter of the late James L. and Beulah F. (Horner) Bigham. She grew up on the family farm in Freedom Township. She graduated from Gettysburg High School and from the Episcopal Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia as a registered nurse.

As a nurse, Elsie Rhodes was the go-to person when family, friends and neighbors had a medical question. “Lots of people called the house for medical advice,” said son Douglas “Doug” Rhodes of Hagerstown. Oldest son Michael “Mike” Rhodes of Hagerstown said Elsie would stay overnight in the hospital with family and friends on her own time to help out. “She was very comforting, very professional all the time,” Mike said. A stickler for the traditional white uniform and nurse's cap, her sons said she was an “old-school nurse.” “As a rule, she kept us on the healthy side.

Doris Jean Lemen Agee died at her home in Martinsburg, W.Va., on Thursday, March 14, 2013.  She was born in Martinsburg on Sept. 4, 1931, and was the daughter of the late Shelbie Clayton Lemen and Myrtle Irene Mason Lemen. Doris was a 1949 graduate of Martinsburg High School, and earned her RN degree from King's Daughters Hospital School of Nursing in 1952, where she was honored with the Florence Nightingale Award. She worked as a private duty nurse at KD Hospital; as an OB-GYN nurse in the private practice of the late Dr. John H. Kilmer; and gave 22 years of dedicated service as a plant nurse for the E.I. du Pont facility in Falling Waters, W.Va.

Elizabeth Lee Garrison, 90, passed away Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, at Hospice of the Valley Eckstein Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., after suffering a severe stroke. Known to her friends as Betty, she was born Oct. 12, 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio, but spent her early years in Halfway and Hagerstown, Md., graduating from Hagerstown High School in 1940. She was the daughter of John and Madeleine Long of Halfway, Hagerstown, and the wife of Lt. Col. Donald H. Garrison, U.S. Air Force (retired)

City Hospital's Nurse Work Life Council named Kathy Hilber, a registered nurse in the surgical/recovery services department at City Hospital, as the recipient of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses for the fourth quarter of 2012. The award was presented to Hilber during a recent ceremony at the hospital. She received a certificate, along with a sculpture called “A Healer's Touch,” which was carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa. The DAISY, or Diseases Attacking the Immune System, award was established nationally to recognize the superhuman efforts nurses perform every day. Nurses at West Virginia University Hospitals-East's City Hospital and Jefferson Memorial Hospital are being honored throughout the year with the DAISY Award.

Graduation for students of the February class of the Franklin County Career and Technology Center's Practical Nursing Program was Feb. 7 at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Chambersburg. It was the 108th graduating class of the nursing program. The graduates continue the tradition of well-respected, competent graduates who have touched the lives of many people in Franklin County and the surrounding area for more than 50 years. Welcoming comments were given by Keith Yohn, administrative director of the tech center.

Terri Shiffler, RN, was named City Hospital's Quality Service Award winner for December. Each month, the hospital's Service Award Committee selects an employee to receive the award. Shiffler, a nurse on the sixth-floor telemetry unit, was nominated by one of her co-workers, who stated, “Terry is one of the best at cardiac care. She recently worked with me to care for a patient experiencing cardiac issues on the fifth-floor medical/surgical unit. Patient safety is clearly her top priority, and she treats all co-workers as a member of the team.” Criteria for selection as a Quality Service Award recipient includes demonstrating a consistently high level of productivity and quality of work, along with a high degree of initiative in performing work responsibilities; displaying exceptional dependability; exhibiting effective relationships with others; displaying a commitment to service and serving the City Hospital community; and meeting the criteria for the WVUH-East mission, vision and values.

Hagerstown Community College recently held a nurse-pinning ceremony to recognize graduates of its fall nursing class. In the associate degree nursing program, the following graduates received their nursing pins: Chambersburg, Pa. - Tracey L. Schultz Emmitsburg, Md. - Ashley N. Coleman Fayetteville, Pa. - Ashley L. Barnes Frederick, Md. - Kimberly McDonald Greencastle, Pa. - Leanna Hollingshead, Stephanie A. Ocker, Ann L. White ...