Association hails student at UAMS
An Arkansas student who advocated for changes to state rules barring certain immigration-program recipients from being licensed as nurses has received a "Student of the Year" award.
Rosa Ruvalcaba Serna, a senior at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' College of Nursing, was recognized with the award by the Arkansas Nursing Students' Association in October.
In 2017, a move by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing ended licensure for applicants whose immigration status was protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The program is for people who were brought to the U.S. as children, but who do not have legal citizenship.
Ruvalcaba Serna, who was a nursing student at the time, was among those affected by the nursing board's change.
During the 2019 legislative session, she helped lead advocacy efforts for a bill that would allow DACA recipients to obtain nursing licenses. The bill was signed into law in April as Act 837.
That work contributed to her selection as the student of the year, according to information on the UAMS website.
Ruvalcaba Serna is set to graduate this month.
State's birthrate declines from '17
Arkansas' 2018 birthrate fell slightly compared with the previous year but was still higher than the national average, according to final data released by the National Vital Statistics System.
The state's birthrate for 2018 was 12.3 per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44, compared with the national birthrate of 11.6. In 2017, the state rate was 12.5.
The number of babies born in the state fell from 37,520 in 2017 to 37,018 in 2018.
Birth totals nationwide fell each year between 2007 to 2013, spiked in 2014 and have been falling again since then, the 2018 report said.
For births last year, Arkansas retained its position as having the nation's highest teen birthrate, though that figure dropped slightly between 2017 and 2018.
Batesville hospice plans tree lighting
Caring Hands Hospice in Batesville will host a tree-lighting ceremony on Friday to honor patients lost in the past year.
Staff members will read the names of the patients and place an ornament on the tree in their honor. Families can attend and may take home the ornament associated with their loved one.
The event is set for 11 a.m. at First Community Bank.
Spa City gets new childbirth center
CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs will open a new birthing center on Monday.
The hospital's Anthony Childbirth Center includes 12 private birthing suites, better monitors and newborn bathing sinks with temperature-controlled faucets.
The Hot Springs hospital handles more than 1,000 births each year, a news release said.
The labor and delivery unit at another hospital operated by the nonprofit group, CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, closed earlier this year.
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