Heart of Healthcare program honors nurses

Nurses are at the heart of health care, and the University of Kansas School of Nursing plans to honor those who go above and beyond.

The school will host its Heart of Healthcare awards ceremony Oct. 22 at the Hyatt Regency at Crown Center.

Nurse inspires son to go into medicine

When Clarke Lewis started taking classes centered on the medical field, he got “stuck on” the idea of a career in medicine, he said.

“I think it is the fact I am helping people as a medical professional or I could be doing research that would benefit society,” Lewis said. “It seemed like a great way, and for lack of a better word, I became addicted to it.”

Hospitals boast hand hygiene

Area hospital administrators said they work hard to improve staff adherence to Center for Disease Control and Prevention hand hygiene recommendations.

Proper hand hygiene is the most effective way to prevent health care associated infections.

St. Luke's opens human milk depot

Olathe resident Amanda Marsh said she feels blessed to be able to breast-feed her two children.

Marsh knows that some mothers are not able to produce enough milk to meet their child’s needs so she recently donated her excess milk through St. Luke’s Hospital’s human milk bank depot.

Nurses strive for quality, safety

University of Kansas Hospital nurses started a Quality Safety Investigators group a year ago to increase quality and safety at the facility.

Nurses on units throughout the hospital meet once a month to discuss quality issues.

Summer heat causes illness, dehydration

Whether work or play, prolonged time in the sun can lead to dehydration and heat exhaustion.

North Kansas City emergency room nurse Shelly Fritchey, RN, said she often sees heat-related illnesses during the summer.