Magnetic Forces

The Department of Nursing at The Johns Hopkins Hospital announced on Nov. 17 that it has received the prestigious Magnet Recognition Award for Excellence. Magnet is the only national award for excellence in nursing services and organization, and Hopkins is the only health care institution in Maryland to lay claim to it. Given by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a component of the American Nurses Association, the award is the culmination of a rigorous, lengthy application process. But, said a proud Nursing VP, Karen Haller, that's not the end of the story: "We remain committed to ensuring that Hopkins nursing meets, and sets, the highest quality standards in nursing and patient care."

MLK Keynoter

Cicely Tyson, famous actress, activist and humanitarian, will deliver the keynote address at the JHM Martin Luther King Commemoration. Tyson has scores of critically acclaimed performances to her credit and is perhaps best known for the title role in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," for which she received two Emmys. She is active in national and international human rights and arts organizations, including The Dance Theater of Harlem, which she co-founded 30 years ago. Tyson has lectured widely on the college circuit. The annual MLK Commemoration is set for Friday, Jan. 16, at noon, in Turner Auditorium.

HBO Film

The only thing more incongruous than the pairing, more than half a century ago, of the white heart surgeon Alfred Blalock and black lab technician Vivien Thomas is the combination of the two men-Alan Rickman and Mos Def- who will play them in an upcoming HBO film. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Rickman, 57, is a versatile actor with many films to his credit ("Sense and Sensibility," "Die Hard," "Harry Potter," "Love Actually"). Mos Def, 29, is a popular figure in New York's rap scene and has only recently taken to acting ("Brown Sugar," "The Italian Job"). The HBO script, tentatively titled Blalock, passed muster with Hopkins Medicine officials, who gave the go-ahead to film in Hurd Hall and Billings in late December. Extras, most likely, will be needed. Stay tuned for details.