Samuel U. Rodgers expands

Every day before 8 a.m., families gather near the steps at 825 Euclid in Kansas City, Mo. They converse in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Bosnian, German, Croatian, Kurdish, and Arabic while they wait, many discussing their health.

“A lot of (my) family members were helped here,” said Raymond Elmonis, Kansas City, Mo.

Music helps patients heal

Close your eyes and visualize someplace peaceful. Now listen closely.

That’s what Janalea Hoffman told her audience.

“We listen through our muscles,” Hoffman said.

Nurses are not immune to insurance struggles

Nurses provide health care day in and day out for others, but there are some nurses who have no health care insurance themselves.

Beth Atkin, RN, BSN, works as a PRN nurse at Truman Medical Center.

Truman, like most hospitals, does not provide insurance for its PRN employees.

Nurse gets gift of life

Overland Park resident Sandy Edwards, ARNP, FNP-C, used to work on an organ harvest team and said she never expected to be on the other side of the table.

Things changed in December 2008.

Preventative care drives Gardner nurse

Keeping watch on heart, stroke and diabetes patients in ICU motivated Angela Rupp, ARNP, to change the course of her career.

“I wanted to do more,” said Rupp, nurse practitioner at Gardner Family Care in Gardner, Kan. “Why couldn’t somebody help them more; do something preventative?”

Research students discuss policy

Nurses’ care for patients extends beyond the bedside when they engage in research and learn about government policy.

Research School of Nursing students heard this message during the college’s annual Scholarship Day.