Registered Nurse
Resume:
Dionne M. Sherrill,Rn
ED Psychiatric Nurse, Charge Nurse, Corrections
Gastonia, NC 28054
**************@*****.***
EXPERIENCE
Broughton Hospital
Psychiatric Hospital, Staff, Rn
Travel Nurse position
April, 2025 -July 7, 2025
This hospital is well known in NC practicing only with psychiatric patients. My unit housed male and female involuntary commitment patients. Seclusions, physical restraints were used along with intramuscular, by mouth and sublingual medications given to help patients to move back into society or jail. I floated between units that had adult, geriatric and adolescents patients. CPI certification was mandatory. This facility had paper charting of orders and utilized paper MARS. Registered Nurses were responsible for LPNs and CNAs on the units, rounding the unit, morning team meetings held daily for reporting of events from the last 24hrs. Treatment teams were held weekly to update care plans for individual patients to see if progress was being made in order to change plans of care or send them back to their initial residence.
Novant Health
Behavior Health ED, Psychiatric, RN
August 2020-2024
Staff position in the emergency department that only serviced Psychiatric patients. Seclusions, physical and medical restraints utilized. Administrations of antipsychotic medications by mouth, intramuscular, and sublingual . Complete orders given, EPIC charting system, and report any necessary changes to both medical and psychiatric providers. Atrium Health Care
Behavioral Health ED, Psychiatric RN
February 2018-July 2020
Staffed by Psychiatrist, Registered Nurses, Technicians, Social Workers and other Allied workers we are open 24/7/365days a year. Patients are triaged, assessed and treated mentally and medically then recommendations are made for outpatient follow-ups or hospitalization. Patients in need of observation for potential hospitalization are attended to by ER trained Technicians, Registered Nurses and Psychiatric Providers and Psychiatrist. Children and Adolescents are also evaluated and may require the same as adults and resources will be provided for the families also well by the social workers. The facility houses 66beds(44 adults and 22 children and adolescents). RN’s are responsible for daily charting, medication administrations, restraints, CIWA and COWS documentation, delegation, group therapy, triage, Adult/ Child/Adolescents’ Units as Charge nurses or ED charge nurse, liaison between doctors, other disciplines, family and friends of our patients. Rn’s are also responsible for reporting any changes in the patient's condition and abnormal labs or urine drug screens. Nurses are to SKILLS
Authority in Delegation.
Accountable and responsible.
Autonomous, critical thinking,
focus, tasks oriented, team player.
Charge Nurse experienced.
Dedicated work ethic.
Meet challenges effectively.
HERO, Epic, Cerna proficient
charting, Skype, Citrix,
Peoplesoft,Teammates, paper
MARS
CPI certified 2025,BLS certified
2024, Completing certification in
Behavior and Cognitive Therapy
August 2020.
Associations
Minority Nurse Associations since
2015
Black Nurses Rock since 2016
Linked-in 2020
Correctional Care 2017
NAACP 2020
Dionne Melissa Sherrill, Registered Nurse, 2001
make sure the completion of the involuntary, voluntary paper work as well as ERIC’s are completed correctly by the physician. EMTALA’s being completed on the correct patients at the right time we are also responsible. Positions assigned for nurses during their shift are ED OBS that carry up to 9 patients, ED Charge, ED Triage, Charge Nurse over the Child/Adolescent Unit up to 8 patients and 1-2 techs and Charge Nurse over Adult Unit up to 8 patients usually with one Tech.
● I have gathered in depth knowledge on how to deescalate an angry and agitated patient by using words of encouragement and asking them to use their learned coping skills while being firm, but fair and remaining respectful and keeping boundaries.
● How to execute involuntary and voluntary paperwork.
● Greater understanding of diagnosis and the medications that are interchangeable with them and long-acting IM medications.
● Execute appropriate risk-assessment and mitigation strategies.
● Worked with parents on behavior therapy techniques and discharge planning and outreach resources.
● Supports teammates and acts as a role model and assists where needed and collaborates with social workers/psychiatrist/nurse practitioners/physician assistants/DSS and others involved in the patient’s care.
Central Regional Hospital
Professional Nurse, Charge-Travel assignment
May 2017-February 2018
Deemed by court, criminally insane, patient population from young men to elderly men. The Forensics Unit entailed patients that are diagnosed as having schizophrenic, bipolar, deveopmentally delayed, emotionally unstabled and severely clinically depressed and has usually committed murder more than once in most cases .
● As an accomplished registered nurse the units manager recognized my ability to be autonomous with critical thinking skills in the time of chaos remaining calm and immediately placed me in the Charge Nurse position frequently, but other positions could be assigned such as Medication Nurse or Mall Nurse. As Charge Nurse you lead a team of 10-12 subordinates and Mall nurses assist the Technicians with making sure patients remain medically stable while staying in their assigned classes for the full day.
Forensics also housed a special unit that only prisoners, felons, mentally unstable patients that need to have themselves either deemed criminally insane clearance or not.
● Within this unit I followed the Psychiatrist achieving effective communication when asking questions. To execute the questions as such to not confuse the patient, but to make the patient think he/she is asking another question yet the same one in a different manner. They were our new arrivals and had to be medically and mentally stabilized. Patients could stay one week to one year. Dionne Melissa Sherrill, Registered Nurse, 2001
Deberry Healthcare Facility-Prison setting
Professional Charge Nurse, Med-Surg- Travel assignment August 2016-January 2017
Patient population is young male, middle aged and geriatric adults. Units housed 36 patients that consisted of lung, pancreatic, colon cancers and medically unstable patients as well. Patients had diabetes, COPD, CHF, mental illnesses, pre-surgery and minor post surgery patients. Nurses are responsible for the care of 8-12 patients. Nurses administered medications via IV, by mouth, porta caths and other types of central lines. They had a Medical Surgical Unit associated with a Long Term Dementia and Elderly Unit. The compound also held a Mental Health Unit and would send their patients there that hurt themselves by trying to end their life and had some type of self inflicted injury or injury through attaining or restraining the prisoner from doing so.
● Accomplished the care for a patient population that is considered unworthy of health care. Deberry is considered an accomplished, support hospital for male inmates with mental health and medical issues.
Central Prison
Professional Nurse, Charge Nurse, Lockdown Unit I
August 2015- July 2016
Sick calls daily, Acute Care emergencies, Physician's Clinic, Charge Nurse over 800 inmates located in 4 units with 4 RN’s and 4-6 Medication aides were performed on a daily basis. Floated to the Emergency Department to draw blood, v/s, EKG’s, start IV’s and administered IV fluids. Placed NG tubes with overdose patients and scribe discharge orders to be sent back with the inmate to their assigned units. Medical treatments given to a variety of patients of different ages with different illnesses such as Mental Health patients, overdose, surgical infections, dressing changes and combative patients that required use of forces, forced medicine or hands on restraints and seclusion. Maxim Health
Central Prison, Corrections, Charge Nurse/Unit
February 2015- August 2015
Sick calls, Acute Care emergencies, Physician Clinic, Charge Nurse, Blood Draws.This is shortened because I was hired on and explained above and below.
Atc
Corrections, Charge/Unit Nurse, Travel Nurse
August 2014- February 2015
Marion and Polk Correctional systems in NC where I performed several intake processes as a clinic such as doing a full body assessment, blood draws, drug tests, eye test, finger sticks for iron and blood sugars, and made the appropriate doctors appointment for prisoners at that time. Sick calls were once a week by a doctor with assistance by the nurse and we also administered medications as in any other facility except intravenously. Emergent calls were almost daily and we sent patients out by ambulance, Dionne Melissa Sherrill, Registered Nurse, 2001
helicopter or officers. Attended to major and minor wounds with lacerations being the most serious ones.
● Autonomous care and critical thinking skills are utilized due to prisons not having a physician onsite. I feel these skills were greatly developed during these assignments.
● I realized that at any wrong decision, place and time I could be in these prisoners' places. I learned to stop my judgmental thoughts and took care of the needs of the patients and not the inmate in front of me because they have been sentenced already and are doing their time.
● I stopped being worried about facing challenges and began to learn through and gained flexibility with greater understanding that you are not always in charge. The officers are in charge in prisons because it was “Safety,” first then “Save a life,”when the area has been cleared. This was hard to get used to, but I had to remember the environment and stay self aware and alive myself.
EDUCATION
Mercy School of Nursing — Diploma
August 1998-May 2001
Major: Registered Nurse
NC Compact Licensed
Forsyth Community College —Prerequisites for BSN
August 2010- 2019
Proud Moments
● Central Prison-2015_2016
As a travel nurse, upper management recognized my abilities that turned a chaotic 23 hour in and 1 hour out, segregated unit, around immediately after only being placed on this opposition, alone for 2 weeks. Sick calls were brought to a minimum of 10 a day. Inmates remained calm demonstrated by less inmate medical emergencies, fires and “gassing” of official staff. After demonstrating having authority over such an adverse unit. I was asked to do Charge Nurse 2-3 times a week. I became efficient in delegation. Showing a willingness to work over time with unplanned staff shortages and to assist in any areas that needed better control of inmates' medical care without being asked by management remain positive in my abilities to run the whole
“Outside Round,” which is the entire prison part of Central Prison excluding the hospital. I was offered the opportunity to become a full-time employee due to these accomplishments.
Dionne Melissa Sherrill, Registered Nurse, 2001
● 2015-2019
Women in Christ was a group I started in my church that helped women to focus on self image, positive attitudes and self reliance. Our group held fundraisers to help our women shelters in the Gastonia community that had children and were working towards a degree of some kind or moving from the shelter. We purposefully with faith helped with the progression of getting them back on their own through education in being self- sufficient. Dionne Melissa Sherrill, Registered Nurse, 2001
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