Ms. Sherry Russo

Rally for a Cure for Breast Cancer ambassador Sherry Russo has a personal reason to help raise awareness of breast and prostate cancer.

She has felt the sorrows the disease can create among family and friends.

Her sister-in-law and best friend battled breast cancer in years past and have endured the fight.This helped motivate her to focus attention on the cause near her home in the Laguna Vista area.

Sherry Russo, RN, Emergency Dept. Nursing Director, agreed that teamwork is what makes the difference at VBMC."What makes me most proud of this award is that it was the result of teamwork between all the physicians and the entire nursing team," Ms. Russo said.

Sherry Russo, of Laguna Vista, is the director of Emergency and Trauma Services at Valley Baptist Hospital in Harlingen.Her department sees 150-160 patients every day, she said. The emergency room is a hub of activity, seeing patients with everything from severe trauma to heart attacks and strokes to colds.

On busy days these circumstances create huge problems for Russo.

At Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen, about 25 teenagers come in each month who have cut or hurt themselves, but many seem to be actual suicide attempts rather than self-injury, said Sherry Russo, director of emergency and trauma services.

"Sometimes in this setting, itâ€s hard to get a true answer," Russo said."We try to stabilize them … why it happens, whether itâ€s a suicide attempt or not, is determined by screeners and specialists."

Some of the teenagers have scars from self-inflicted wounds, Russo said.

Dr. Ruben Lopez serves as Trauma Director for VBMC, assisted by Sherry Russo, RN, Director of Emergency and Trauma Services at VBMC; Susan Wallace, RN, CEN, VBMC's full-time Trauma Coordinator; and Terry Millon, the only certified Trauma Registrar in South Texas.
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Sherry Russo, RN, Director of Emergency and Trauma Services at VBMC, said the goal of VBMC's Trauma Program is to provide "immediate quality care to the trauma patients in our service area."Working with Emergency Medical Services providers and Valley Air Care, VBMC has established a "trauma activation system" to coordinate care for critically injured trauma patients.The system alerts members of VBMC's trauma team once EMS notifies the medical center of an incoming patient.

Ms. Russo added that a systematic approach to trauma care provides "the best means to protect the public from premature death and prolonged disability."

Russo, since taking the job as director of the Emergency Department at VBMC, has received four awards.Russo, who is now working on her master's degree, is enjoying the Valley and her team at the hospital.
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Having the opportunity to sit still and admire the beautiful South Texas scenery is one of the things Sherry Russo has come to appreciate.

"I have done things here (in the Valley) I never thought I would do," Russo, said.
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"I got a call from the vice president of Valley Baptist Health Systems asking me to come and see what they had here," Russo said."When I came here, it just felt right.When I walked around, everyone looked me in the eye, said hello and seemed happy at work."

Russo and her staff held meetings to ask the doctors and staff what they wanted and about ways to get lab results in a timely manner in order to get patients seen by a doctor and out of the emergency room without a long wait.

"We set time limits for ourselves with steps that may seem simple."Russo said."No matter what, the voice of the patient is the one you have to listen to."

Besides helping to build an award-winning department, Russo, who has been in the nursing profession for 23 years, has also helped bring community involvement to the department as well.

During the first week in August, Russo and others in the department collected school supplies and various other items, such as stuffed animals and clothing, for Christmas in August to help needy kids get ready for the first day of school.

"We thought that collecting school supplies would be a good idea," Russo said."We usually do a have a Christmas drive in December in conjunction with the Family Crisis Center, but this is the first time we have something for the first day of school."

Russo, who has been working in the health profession for 23 years, is currently working over the Internet toward her master's degree by attending class 15 to 20 hours a week with only one classmate, her golden retriever Sunny.

"Ever since I moved here, my dog has been in the newspaper more times than I have."Russo said jokingly."Once, he posed with a groomer and another he was running on the beach and the photographer just snapped a shot."

Although Russo, her husband and her dog are fairly new to the pace of how things work in the Valley, yard work and gardening keep them busy.They have no plans to go back to their old way of life.

"I love it here," Russo said.

At Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen, about 25 teenagers come in each month who have cut or hurt themselves, but usually these seem to be actual suicide attempts rather than self-injury, said Sherry Russo, director of emergency and trauma services.

"Sometimes in this setting it's hard to get a true answer," Russo said."We try to stabilize them ...Some of the teenagers have scars that are from self-inflicted wounds, Russo said.

Usually, the ER sees about 130 patients a night, said Sherry Russo, director of nursing.About 30 percent of those are admitted to the hospital.