Laurie Tucker, RN, is a school nurse at Thunder Ridge Middle School in Centennial, but she also works to better the medical care for people around the world through volunteer work with Project C.U.R.E.

Both sides came away declaring victory last month when a Denver District Court Judge threw out a lawsuit by the Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists against Gov. Bill Owens.

Betty Benson, the ethics palliative care consultant with Exempla Lutheran Hospice, stands outside the hospital's ICU, where she spends much of her time. Benson is a founder of the Exempla Lutheran Hospice program that was started in 1985.

Pictured from left to right, Franki Underwood, supervisor of the OB screening room; LaVonna Walker, director of nursing; and Erica McHugh, nurse program manager of the SICU. Three of the four recipients of this year's award were nurses.

Kaiser Permanente Colorado has been named one of the most effective health care plans in the nation, according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

While the words "alternative medicine" may conjure unpleasant visions for some, the holistic approach is gaining more and more credibility.

The nominations are in, and now the hard work of picking two Colorado Nurse of the Year award winners begins for selection committees affiliated with one of the state’s oldest nursing support nonprofit groups, Friends of Nursing.

Adam Suina, 15, of Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico, designed his cards to reflect a merging of both his Native American culture as well as the American lifestyle. Adam, who was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia in June 2001, is now feeling better after a bone marrow transplant.

Executive Bob Malte will begin as Exempla Lutheran Medical Center's new chief executive officer Dec. 1.

A Nursing Workforce Summit recently was held at the Beth-El College of Nursing in Colorado Springs to help bring focus and attention to the current nursing shortage.