Oklahoma's Nursing Times is published throughout the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas. With more than 42,000 weekly readers in print and more than 70,000 online each month, Oklahoma's Nursing Times is the largest weekly health care publication in Oklahoma. If you have a news idea, press release, announcements or personnel changes that affect the industry - call Priya Jenkins, editor at 405-631-5100 or email news@okcnursingtimes.com. If you are recruiting nurses call Annette Deckard in Oklahoma City or Melanie Mitchell in Tulsa, classified advertising at 405-631-5100. If you wish to advertise your retail location or product call Char Posey, retail advertising at 405-631-5100. You can also reach either by email advertising@okcnursingtimes.com

HealthCare Innovations is a prime choice for healthcare professionals, says Kathy Garis, medical healthcare manager, Sharon Bartlett, case manager. Photo by James Coburn

Laughing with Elizabeth By Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal, RN

Each week we visit with health care professionals throughout Oklahoma. If you would like us to visit your facility, please email Priya Jenkins at: news@okcnursingtimes.com

The Oklahoma State Department of Health and National Association of Social Workers announce the kickoff of March as National Social Work Month. The theme for this year’s celebration is "Social Workers: Help Starts Here." The multi-year public education campaign will reinforce that social workers can connect people to a variety of resources in their community to help them improve the options for themselves and their families.

Margo MacRobert, RNC, MS, CNAA, is the director of the Healing Wellness Community Center at OU College of Nursing. She is also the director of Case Management Programs and teaches administration/management at the nursing school. Photo by Elissa Crocker

Oklahoma has taken several steps toward providing consumers important protections with regard to the financing and delivery of health care services. Legislation enabling consumers direct access to specialists; prohibitions against gag clauses between providers and health plans; timely payment of consumers’ health care claims; and full financial solvency requirements for health insurance companies are just some of the many state laws that have benefited small and large employers in Oklahoma over the past several years.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains America’s number one killer. This is especially true in Oklahoma where each day 30 Oklahomans die of heart disease, according to officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH).

For some Oklahoma children, Game Boys and Barbies and Tamagotchis are secondary to the fact that at most any given time, their cupboards are bare. Thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Sisters of Mercy, more than 1,700 children in 45 schools throughout the state will receive backpacks of food each week this year.

Kindred Hospital is expanding to a new southside location on the second floor of the St. Anthony's run St. Michael's. Photo by Mike Lee