PERRYVILLE WOMAN HONORED FOR NURSING

Rosie Danker of Perryville, a registered nurse in the diabetic rehabilitation nurse at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, has been named the 1995 Nurse of the Year at the hospital.

Her selection, announced during a reception held last week, coincided with National Nurses Week and National Hospital Week.

Danker was chosen to be nurse of the year by a selection committee which reviewed nominations submitted from all nursing areas throughout the hospital.

Danker was one of three finalists for the award. The other finalists were Jan Parker, R.N., of Jackson, a nurse in the Gene E. Huckstep Emergency Center at St. Francis, and Sherry Welter, R.N., of Scott City, a member of the St. Francis post-anesthesia recovery nursing staff.

"Rosie demonstrates the value of community stewardship and collaboration with others," said St. Francis patient care vice President Marcia Southard-Ritter as she made the award presentation. "She personifies excellence in nursing; when I think of what our nurse of the year stands for, I think of Rosie."

Mrs. Danker received her nursing degree from Southeast Missouri State University in 1982 and was a staff nurse at St. Francis until August 1983. She was a school nurse in the Perryville public school system during the 1983-84 school year and then worked as a nurse in the medical practice of endocrinologist James-Dzur, MD, until 1992. She then returned to St. Francis and became the medical center's first certified diabetic educator.

As the medical center's diabetic rehabilitation nurse, she serves as a diabetic educator for inpatients and outpatients. She provides information to patients, families and coworkers on how to manage chronic illness. She also helped develop the St. Francis Foot Care Center and has served as a guest lecturer at Southeast Missouri State University's School of Nursing.

"I love the diversity of what the nursing profession offers," Danker said. "It gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction to help someone understand and deal with a chronic illness."