SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital – Shawnee recently recognized one of its nurses with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize nurses that go the extra mile for their patients, family and team members.
Tress Hindman, RN, was the recipient of The DAISY Award for her compassionate patient care, but also for her kindness and support of the staff.
In Hindman’s nomination, the staff stated, “Tress as ‘an angel with hidden wings.’” We are thankful for Tress selflessly taking time out of her busy schedule to be of service to her colleagues in their time of need. She is truly an angel indeed!”
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, CA, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues, and they are chosen by a committee of nurses at St. Anthony Hospital to receive The DAISY Award. Awards are given throughout the year at presentations given in front of the nurse’s colleagues, physicians, patients, and visitors. Each honoree receives a certificate commending her or him for being an “Extraordinary Nurse.” The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.” The honoree is also given a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

The presidential election isn’t the only thing voters in Oklahoma will have a chance to decide this November.
A penny sales tax for education, the right to farm and selling wine in grocery stores are just a few of the issues that will also be decided when voters go to the polls on November 8.
Seven state questions have made their way to the ballot and several are being hotly contested by the different sides.
Here’s a quick look at both sides of each issue.
State Question 776
This state question involves Oklahoma’s right to exercise the death penalty.
The language allows the Oklahoma Legislature to be expressly empowered to designate any method of execution not prohibited by the United States Constitution.
Opponents argue a state question to amend the constitution is unneeded.
State Question 777
One of the more hotly contested items on the ballot, SQ 777 has been touted as the right to farm bill. Opponents call it the right to harm bill.
Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the Oklahoma Cattleman’s Association and the Oklahoma Pork Council are three of the largest supporters of the question.
“SQ 777 will protect our ability to use science based production methods to humanely produce food and fiber,” said Terry Detrick, president of the American Farmers & Ranchers/Oklahoma Farmers Union. “We are in a daily struggle with adverse weather conditions, burdensome regulations and contrary markets. SQ 777 will lend stability to our industry by encouraging younger generations to be involved in agriculture without worrying about outside influences with an anti-agriculture agenda.”
Opponents of 777 call it a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and are backed by the Sierra Club and the Humane Society of the United States.
The Edmond City Council formally passed a resolution opposing State Question 777 earlier this year and former University of Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer has also announced he is in opposition.
State Question 779
Oklahoma has one of the worst-funded education systems in the nation. State Question 779 looks to help remedy this by creating a limited purpose fund to increase funding for public education through a penny sales tax.
The revenue to be used for public education shall be allocated: 69.50% for common school districts, 19.25% for the institutions under the authority of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, 3.25% for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, and 8% for the State Department of Education.
It also requires teacher salary increases funded by this measure raise teacher salaries by at least $5,000 over the salaries paid in the year prior to adoption of this measure.
Opponents don’t like the idea of taxing Oklahomans further under any circumstances
State Question 780
This measure amends existing Oklahoma laws and would change the classification of certain drug possession and property crimes from felony to misdemeanor. It would make possession of a limited quantity of drugs a misdemeanor.
Proponents say it will ease prison overcrowding. Opponents fear lower charges would be less of a deterrent.
State Question 781
This question piggybacks on the above question.
This measure creates the County Community Safety Investment Fund, only if voters approve State Question 780, the Oklahoma Smart Justice Reform Act. Any savings realized by the state would be distributed to counties for community rehab programs.
State Question 790
After the removal of a Ten Commandments statue from the Oklahoma Capitol grounds, this question arose.
If this measure repealing Article 2, Section 5 is passed, the government would still be required to comply with the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution, which is a similar constitutional provision that prevents the government from endorsing a religion or becoming overly involved with religion.
Oklahoma’s constitution currently prohibits the government from using public money or property for the direct or indirect benefit of any religion or religious institution.
State Question 792
This question would allow the sale of wine in grocery stores and convenience stories while also allowing liquor stores to sell items other than alcoholic beverages in limited amounts.

Sen. Clark Jolley is a supporter for a number of reasons.
“It means tremendously increased convenience for (seniors),” Jolley said. “I think that’s something that will really appreciate and enjoy having.”
The issue is also one of modernization for Jolley, who terms Oklahoma liquor laws as oftentimes “fuddy duddy.”
“For Oklahoma to modernize our laws to really come into conformity with the rest of the country … will have a great impact on us having our young people want to be in Oklahoma,” Jolley said. “I think that’s a huge testament to why we should modernize our laws.”

story and photo by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Hand-written cards.
The joy of simply being present with loved ones and making their day a little brighter.
The pride that comes with honoring a loved one who gave their life in the service of country.
These simple things have always been foundational for Missy Beckett.
As a registered nurse, Beckett has cared for people from all walks of life, all the while knowing that memories they create will last a lifetime.
It’s this approach that Beckett promised to keep as the director for the aptly named Promise Care Hospice service.
Promise Care is locally and privately owned and Beckett has worked with the owner more than a decade now.
The focus has and always will be personal.
“I want to be small,” Beckett said. “As an RN and the director I want to know everyone. I want to know who my team is talking about. I want to know every single person’s name. I want to know their families. I don’t want ever to be too big to not know why I’m doing this.”
Promise Care is comprised of an expert teams of caregivers consisting of registered nurses, physicians, home healthcare aides, social workers, chaplains, bereavement counselors and trained volunteers.
The palliative care offered eases pain and discomfort for all who experience it.
Social and spiritual support for both patients and their loved ones is bedrock.
Volunteers are often the lifeblood of a quality hospice experience.
That’s where Stacy Wingfield comes in. Promise Care’s volunteer coordinator hand picks those individuals with both the heart and compassion for the role.
Wingfield knows no paycheck could ever be equal both the service volunteers provide and the what they receive in return.
“They’ve gotten a lot of strength,” Wingfield said of her volunteers. “We have training all along the way. You don’t have to have any medical background at all. It’s very interesting the different areas. You could be a florist and want to volunteer to put arrangements together.”
“You could be a masseuse and maybe come do hand massages or an art student who wants to make cards and do crafts. There are so many different avenues.”
One of Wingfields volunteers is an author who comes in after book tours and takes her book into a home and reads while in costume.
“The older you get the more life has thrown at you and the more you do understand where people are coming from,” Wingfield said.
Beckett knew of a woman through healthcare that transportation circumstances had left her homebound. She decided to present her the opportunity to volunteer.
“It has changed her entire outlook on everything to be able to get out and visit and help and spend time with people,” Beckett said. “It’s super important for the patient to have a neutral person to be able to tell their fears. They’re not going to tell their family. Sometime they’ll tell us as a nurse but to have someone who can go in and spend four or five hours at the bedside and just watch TV or read or have a conversation it’s so important.”
“And it’s important for the family to get out of the house and get a break and we really encourage that.”
From the outset, Beckett has brought her staff out into the community when they’re not in patients’ homes.
Once a month you’ll find the Promise Care team working at a homeless shelter serving others.
Every year you’ll find Beckett and staff handing out turkeys with a local law firm.
“Our group is really unique. We like to get out and go do things probably a lot of other businesses don’t do together,” Beckett said.
Remembering the holidays are always packed with events, Beckett was scolded by her staff this year when she suggested they take December off from the shelter serving line.
“They got mad at me,” Beckett laughed. “We like to give back. I think for most of the staff we all have to have a paycheck but I think we’d all do this for free.”
Honoring loved ones is what Promise Care is all about.
And Beckett admits she has a soft spot for veterans.
“I’m a Lawton girl so veterans are near and dear to my heart,” she said. “My dad is buried at the national cemetery. People on our team are veterans so we want to honor them, too.”
It’s those little things along the way that most don’t realize that are actually the big things in life.
And it’s those moments that Beckett promises to make count.

by Bobby Anderson
Staff Writer

It’s the gamut of reactions that Jerry Deming, TTS-CTS, receives when she counsels patients in the Norman Regional Health System about their tobacco use.
In her tobacco cessation role she’s been screamed at. She’s been stared at, through and around.
She’s been shunned and she’s even been hugged.
But this year she’s been able to help Norman Regional’s nurses develop a new Smoke-Free Families campaign that is gaining traction.
Deming began working with the Women’s and Children’s unit after Norman Regional nurses and managers sought help.
“There was an understanding that there were a lot of women leaving the hospital to smoke,” Deming said. “This is a very common problem. I’m in contact with people worldwide and we all deal with this problem in our hospital and clinic settings.
“We all scratch our heads and think ‘what are we going to do to handle this.’ It’s a big problem. It comes up again and again.”
Staff understood that once a mother and her baby went home then it would be easier for the patient not only to smoke, but smoke around the child.
Deming brought forward the idea that it’s a population issue and not one of monitoring.
“We needed to drill down a little bit deeper and figure out how we can help these people get through a hospital visit staying away from tobacco use and even contemplating the idea of … even quitting to have a smoke-free family.”
When leaders got together to decide a plan of action they realized they were entering uncharted landscape. Nowhere could they find a comprehensive plan dealing with the in-hospital maternity population.
Hospital stays are often so short that no one had really figured a good way to approach the issue.
Planning meetings included physicians and nurses. A craving scale – much like a pain scale – was developed.
Nurse Manager Alyson Heeke, RN, saw an opportunity.
“Part of the reason we started this in the first place is we noticed there was an awful lot of times our babies were traveling back and forth to the nursery so their parents could go outside and smoke,” Heeke said. “That became a big concern for us just in the fact they were only with us 24 to 48 hours and a good portion of the time these folks who were really addicted the babies were in the nursery sometime 20 out of 24 hours.
“We couldn’t provide what we needed for our patients if they were always outside.”
Nursing became involved in the LEAN (Lean Education Academic Network) team project helping develop educational material including posters for the room and signage for outside.
“The nurses really did want it to be a successful process for the patient as much as possible and not to be the police officer,” Heeke said. “They wanted to help them understand this also impacts how well they bond with their baby, how they do with their breastfeeding issues and all those other things which are complicated by smoking.”
Director of Patient Care Services, Susie Graves, RN, said many women who are able to quit smoking for their pregnancy often will allow themselves to resume after they deliver.
“Part of what we wanted to do was help them through. Don’t have a start date. Let that continue,” Graves said. “They all know they shouldn’t smoke … but we’re just there not as judges but as support and giving them the resources they need.”
If the patient agrees, nurses are assessing each patient every shift regarding their tobacco usage and craving level.
“(Before) nurses felt pretty helpless,” Heeke said. “Their patients would come from a C-section and be begging for a wheelchair the second the baby was born to go outside and have a cigarette.
“At this stage, with all the things we’ve created it’s given our nurses an opportunity to have something to say to the patient beyond ‘don’t you think it would be a good idea to quit.’”
Deming travels through the halls of both Norman Regional hospital complexes visiting with patients who have indicated a history of tobacco use.
For nine years now she has worked with smokers. Some are just thinking about quitting. Others are desperately looking for a way out.
And some won’t even acknowledge she’s standing in front of them.
She terms her approach as “motivational interviewing.” She stresses to her patients that she’s not there to judge.
Nearly every person Deming visits understands that they need to quit tobacco. Many have tried multiple times on their own without success.
“When we look at this population it’s the most difficult population to approach,” Deming said. “Most people smoking during their pregnancy feel ashamed of it. They don’t like to talk about it. Of course, they are very addicted to tobacco at this point because they haven’t stopped smoking. Most people know there’s going to be a health issue related to that.”
And now Norman Regional nurses have even more to offer to help these patients quit.

Please bring any unwanted items to our office (between 8a-5p) and we will ensure to clean and price them accordingly! All items received will be sold in our Yard Sale on June 8th and June 9th between 8a-5p. ALL PROCEEDS GO TO BENEFIT THE ALZHEIMER”S ASSOCIATION! Please feel free to donate items AND attend the yard sale! We look forward to raising awareness with you!