JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
A retired Army nurse and current U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research civilian at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston has been named as one of the top 20 nurses in the state of Texas by two major professional nursing organizations.
Retired Lt. Col. Maria L. Serio-Melvin received the “20 for 2020 Nurse Award” for her dedication, perseverance, compassion and commitment to Texans during an exceptional year marked by the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
Serio-Melvin, USAISR Clinical Research Support Group deputy chief, was selected from a large pool of nominations made at the end of 2020 to the Texas Nurses Foundation and Texas Nurses Association.
Grateful for the award, Serio-Melvin said she was initially unaware the award existed.
“After finding out what the award was about, I was very humbled and honored,” she said. “I am also extremely grateful to the people who took the time to write the nomination and letter of support on my behalf.”
Lt. Col. Chris VanFosson, USAISR Clinical Research Support Group chief, was a key contributor in nominating Serio-Melvin for the recognition and was excited and proud to learn that she selected for the award.
“I have known Maria [Serio-Melvin] for almost eight years and have always viewed her as an amazing nurse and leader,” he said. “She is compassionate and empathetic toward patients and colleagues alike, and is utterly devoted to our research and patient care missions.”
Serio-Melvin has been a nurse since 1989 when she graduated from Niagara University in New York with a bachelor of science in nursing. She earned her degree with an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps nursing scholarship and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps on the same day she graduated.
“To this day, it is still one of the proudest days of my life,” she said.
Serio-Melvin chose nursing as a career field because she wanted to help people who were sick or injured.
“I also went into nursing because Niagara University offered me an annual $1,000 scholarship – a big deal in 1985 – to enroll in their College of Nursing, instead of their College of Education,” she added.
During her 22-plus years as an Army nurse, Serio-Melvin served at the USAISR Burn Center twice – first from 1994-1997 and then from 2006-2011.
She retired from active duty in 2011 and continued serving as a Department of the Army civilian at the USAISR. While on active duty, she worked in several roles in the Burn Center to include being a staff nurse, charge nurse, clinical nurse officer in charge, acting and interim chief nurse, clinical nurse specialist, senior clinical nurse specialist, Burn Flight Team nurse and the BFT administrative officer, now called the BFT Chief Nurse.
“I like to call myself a USAISR ‘repeat offender,’” she said of her multiple tours of duty at the facility.
Shortly after arriving at the Burn Center for her first tour of duty in 1994, she completed her burn orientation just prior to the infamous “Green Ramp” disaster at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where more than 90 paratroopers suffered burn injuries and many were transported to the USAISR Burn Center for treatment.
“We received about 21 vented [ventilator, also known as a respirator] patients in about 24 hours,” she said. “We cared for those patients for over a month. This mass casualty literally seared the love of burn care, into my heart.”
Supporting the ISR’s mission to “optimize combat casualty care” is why Serio-Melvin believes she earned this award.
“I did everything I could to ensure that mission was accomplished,” she said. “I tried to live by the Army values whenever I came to work. My goal was, and still is, to serve others the best way that I can, hoping that I can make a positive difference in other people’s lives, no matter who they are. Working in all of those different roles has provided me the opportunity to do just that.”
VanFosson said Serio-Melvin works countless hours to ensure physicians, nurses, and others understand the intricacies of burn resuscitation, particularly when using the Burn Navigator® device – a device invented by the USAISR and University of Texas Medical Branch.
As the Integrated Product Team co-chair, she worked with U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command through their decision gate process and was instrumental in getting the device Food and Drug Administration cleared and distributed to the USAISR Burn Center and other Army medical field units. The Burn Navigator® is a clinical decision support software tool that guides and monitors fluid resuscitation therapy for severely burned patients.
“Since transitioning to her new role in the Clinical Research Support Group, she is actively engaged in the development and execution of all of our clinical studies,” VanFosson said. “In this prolonged ‘Year of the Nurse,’ I felt like she deserved public recognition for her years of service and dedication to our mission. Additionally, I thought that her unique role should be shown as an example for other nurses across Texas.”
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve our nation and work at the USAISR,” Serio-Melvin said.