Topeka, KS -- (SBWire) -- 06/30/2015 --Margaret "Maggie" O'Brien King, RN-BC, PhD, AHN-BC, CNL, of Loveland, Ohio was awarded the 2015 Lifetime Achievement award at the AHNA 35th annual conference in Branson, Missouri June 12-17, 2015. The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to celebrate the outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of holistic nursing; a way of saying Thank You for all the holistic nursing work accomplished through sustained participation in AHNA and advancing the specialty practice of holistic nursing.

About Maggie King
Maggie O'Brien King graduated from Loyola University in Chicago with a Bachelor's in Nursing and Master's in Education. She received her MSN in Community Nursing from Wright State University in Dayton and her PhD in Natural Health from Clayton College in Birmingham. She is currently a Professor and Associate Director of the Undergraduate Program for the School of Nursing at Xavier University, in Cincinnati, where she has been a faculty member for the past 27 years. She has been the Co-Chair of the Consortium of Nurse Educators in Holistic Nursing and is presently a member of the AHNA Education Provider Committee, responsible for writing continuing education questions for a select article in the bi-monthly Beginnings magazine. Maggie has been a Sharing Circle Facilitator at the AHNA Annual Conference for numerous years and served as the Lead Facilitator at the 2014 conference. She has also presented both posters and workshops at the annual AHNA conference, and has served on the AHNA Awards Committee for the past two years. Maggie is a member and actively involved with the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing Omicron-Omicron Chapter, in Cincinnati, and recently gave an induction speech, encouraging new inductees and members to follow in Florence Nightingale's footsteps.

Having published and or reviewed more than 30 articles, contributed to 12 text chapters, given 26 paper and 12 poster presentations related to holistic nursing, leadership, gerontology and education, Maggie was recently appointed Associate Editor for the Journal of Holistic Nursing. She is responsible for monitoring the inclusion of holistic and integrative therapy content within Xavier University's nursing curriculum because of her involvement as the co-author of the original holistic curriculum. She oversees the implementation of holistic nursing in order to maintain its status as an endorsed program through the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation (AHNCC). In addition to her professional commitments, she has been a community volunteer for the Mercy Neighborhood Ministries, a human services agency that provides service to underserved neighborhoods and she served for several years on a committee for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati. During her time with the Boys & Girls Club, she helped develop a book and CD, entitled, Forging the Way, for the ages of 6-18, that included content on gardening and environments, safety, careers and life after high school. The book was distributed to every Boys & Girls Club throughout the United States.

About AHNA
At its founding in 1981, the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) adopted as its primary mission the advancement of holistic healthcare by increasing awareness and promoting education as well as personal community-building among nurses, other healthcare professionals and the public. This non-profit professional membership organization is becoming the definitive voice for holistic nursing for registered nurses and other holistic healthcare professionals around the world. Holistic nursing focuses on integrating traditional, complementary and alternative treatment opportunities to improve the physical, mental, emotional and relational health of the whole person.

AHNA delivers valuable resources, improves educational tools, and offers superior networking opportunities to a vibrant and expanding universe of healthcare professionals. AHNA currently services almost 4,500 members through 143 local chapters/networks in the U.S. and abroad.

Holistic nursing is recognized by the American Nurses Association as an official nursing specialty with both a defined scope and standards of practice.

The American Holistic Nurses Association's Education Provider Committee is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission (ANCC) on Accreditation.

Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # 10442.