OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- The Oklahoma Commission for Human Services today commended an Oklahoma Department of Human Services staff member for outstanding service to the citizens of Oklahoma.

Rhonda James, a health care management nurse in Sequoyah County, received the honor during the Commission’s monthly meeting in Oklahoma City. James has worked for OKDHS for almost 10 years.

The commendation was presented by Richard L. DeVaughn, chairman of the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services.

On Sept. 15, 2008, an OKDHS co-worker came to James for assistance with a client who had become ill. When James arrived in the interview room, the client’s blood pressure was extremely high. The client was experiencing discomfort in her neck and left arm, her pulse was racing and she was experiencing visual changes. James, believing the woman was having a heart attack, assisted the client with emergency medical services. The woman received the medical care she needed, due to the prompt attention she received from James.  

And together, James and her co-worker Terrie Lincoln, also a health care management nurse, were called upon yet again on May 8, 2009, to assist a client with a life-threatening medical emergency. James and Lincoln were unable to obtain a blood pressure reading on the client and provided potentially life-saving nursing care until EMS arrived and transported the patient to the emergency room.

These nurses remained focused and calm in a situation that would have surely resulted in a much different outcome had they not been there and acted quickly and professionally, DeVaughn noted.

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