When the letters “BCEN” – Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing – popped up on Cassie Herman’s caller ID, her first thought was that maybe she was due for recertification.
Instead, Herman, Trauma Program Manager at Riverside Regional Medical Center (RRMC), learned she had won a major national award for excellence in her specialty.
BCEN’s annual Distinguished Awards recognize just one nurse in the entire country in each of six categories: emergency, pediatric emergency, flight, critical care ground transport, burn and trauma. Herman was selected in the trauma division and will receive her honor from BCEN representatives in an upcoming ceremony at RRMC.
“It’s exciting, humbling and a bit intimidating,” she said. “I’m so grateful for everyone I work with at Riverside. We drive each other to be better and develop and introduce innovative practices and programs that help our patients heal.”
Herman, an Emergency Department nurse at RRMC for nearly 20 years, currently oversees the hospital’s trauma program, which includes its ground-breaking Hand in Hand Program. Introduced in 2019, the hospital-based violence intervention initiative provides intensive case management to victims of community violence.
The grant-funded program concentrates on patients recovering from gunshot wounds, stabbings, physical assaults or domestic incidences, aiming to break cycles of violence and prevent patients from becoming victims again in the future.
Hand in Hand’s clinical intervention specialists meet with patients at their bedsides to discuss their life goals, daily challenges and hurdles to success.
“They’re often angry and focused on how to retaliate,” Herman noted. “Instead, we want them to think about how to turn their lives around. Maybe they need to get a GED, find a job, receive food or other assistance, or move into a new environment. Once we know their situation, we can connect them with services and make a real plan for moving forward.”
With an overall reinjury rate of just 2 percent, the program is even more meaningful to Herman after losing her 23-year-old stepson to gun violence in 2024: “It’s personal now. Seeing our team literally change people’s lives is so powerful.”
Herman, 40, has longtime ties to Riverside. She was born at RRMC, and her mother managed several local Riverside practices when she was growing up. As Herman spent time around nurses in those offices, she saw how much their support mattered to anxious patients and families. “A nurse was the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be,” she shared.
In 2007, Herman earned an Associate Degree from Riverside School of Professional Nursing. Although she initially assumed the ED was a scary, depressing space, she soon realized that she loved treating a wide variety of illnesses and injuries – especially trauma cases.
“I’ve seen a lot, but I will never say I’ve seen it all,” she said. “I like trying to fix the sickest and most injured patients. I’m always learning, and it’s very rewarding to hold their hand and comfort them. The biggest question I get is, ‘Am I going to die?’ I won’t ever promise anything false, but I do tell them we will do everything we can to help them.”
During her career at RRMC’s ED, Herman has worked a Registered Nurse for nine years, Assistant Nurse Manager for a year and ED Clinical Coordinator for three years. She became Trauma Performance Improvement Specialist in 2020 and Trauma Program Manager in 2022; in 2021, she also completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through Chamberlain University.
Along with managing Hand in Hand and trauma nursing care, Herman oversees quality indicators, data analysis and report presentations; provides outreach and education; and collaborates closely with physicians, nurses and EMS agencies on treatment protocols.
Outside work, Herman and her husband have four children between them. She enjoys attending the kids’ sporting events and shows, playing billiards and reading to relax, but she also is still eager to go to work.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she said. “I never know what each day is going to bring, but I always know I’m in the right place.”