The nurse, Angela Farnan, adopted baby Blaze last year when she learned that his biological family could not care for him financially, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan.
- Arkansas: The Jasper School District and three other public school districts in Arkansas recently launched the School Telemedicine in Arkansas (STAR) program. The program aims to increase students' access to health care services so they can avoid trips to the doctor that may cause them to miss class. The program is funded in part by the Arkansas Department of Education, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the University of Central Arkansas (Sharp, KTLO, 2/25).
- Illinois: A primary charge nurse at OSF Children's Hospital of Illinois adopted one of the babies she cared for in the pediatric intensive care unit. Angela Farnan initiated a short-term guardianship to care for baby Blaze, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Farnan adopted Blaze after his birth mother revealed that she could not care for Blaze financially and requested Farnan care for him instead. Farnan said Blaze is "full of joy," adding that the day she and her husband officially adopted Blaze was "one of the best days of [their] lives," (Pelletiere, "Good Morning America," ABC, 2/28).
- Michigan: Nancy Miller, a nurse at Hospice of the EUP, snowshoed to a hospice patient's home last week during one of the worst snowstorms of the year. According to Miller, the patient called the hospice center requesting care, but the nurse who first took the call lived 20 miles away. Miller, who lived fairly close to the patient, put on her snowshoes and walked about half a mile to the patient's house. "I think they felt reassured that I was there," she said, adding, "I left there feeling good that I was able to help them" (Bean, Becker's Hospital Review, 2/27).
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