Ruesch Recognized with Gail P. Lenehan Advocacy Award
- December 11, 2017
Quality Director Sandra Ruesch, RN, was recently recognized with the Gail P. Lenehan Advocacy Award from the Emergency Nurses Association.
The award recognizes a nurse who has had a positive impact on emergency nurses through a sustained commitment of advocacy for emergency nurses’ well-being and welfare or the welfare of vulnerable populations.
Ruesch was nominated for her work in legislative advocacy on both the state and national levels to protect nurses from workplace violence. She encourages nurses’ participation in legislative advocacy and has doubled South Dakota Emergency Nurses Association (SDENA) representation at South Dakota Nurses Day at the Legislature. She also serves as a Management of Aggressive Behaviors instructor, teaching over 600 health care professionals how to defuse volatile confrontations in the health care setting.
As a committed Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE), Ruesch went before the South Dakota Board of Nursing to revise the advisory position for SANE scope of practice. In addition, she provides training and mentorship to SANEs in South Dakota and surrounding states.
Before being appointed quality director this fall, Ruesch served as an emergency department supervisor and clinical nurse educator at Brookings Health as well as a nurse educator at Sanford Health. She also is a current member of the Eastern Plains Sexual Assault Response Team and on the state board of directors for the Emergency Nurses Association.
About Brookings Health System
Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, surgical and extended care services. The emergency room is staffed 24 hours a day and provides around the clock patient needs ranging from minor injuries to life threatening crises. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.