Samaritan Medical Center registered nurse Phyl A. McKinney won second honorable mention in a statewide Nurses Week essay contest for her poem "Nursing-No Skill Required," the state Area Health Education Center has announced.

Her poem, motivated by a comment made by her husband, was entered into the state contest after she was named April 14 as first-place regional finisher for the Northern Area Health Education Center, headquartered in Canton.

The contest winner is Rose H. Stiles, a home care nurse with the Cortland County Health Department.

A Samaritan employee for more than three years, Mrs. McKinney is assigned to the Medical-Surgical Unit on 3-East.