Tribute to Women: Sherry Missildine
/The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote, “A man’s character is his fate.” Sherry Missildine’s character, marked by compassion and perseverance, fated her to a life of caring for others as a nurse practitioner.
photo by shane darby
Growing up, Sherry didn’t think she was smart enough to pursue a career in medicine. “I didn’t grow up in a supportive environment and was never taught how to study, learn, or retain information,” she explained. During her senior year at Arkansas High School, she was hired as a legal secretary, a position she kept for ten years. She worked for a local attorney who specialized in workers’ compensation and disability. “Everything we dealt with was medical-related,” she said.
At 19, Sherry’s brother, Shannon, was in a motor vehicle accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. During his stay in the ICU, Sherry visited, and the course of her life changed dramatically.
“One day, I walked in and looked at all the machines he was hooked up to, the camino bolts in his head, the numbers and lines on the monitors, wondering what it all meant,” she recalled. “Then, just as clear as day, I heard a voice say, ‘One day, you’re going to understand what all those numbers mean, and you’ll work in this [field].’ I turned around quickly to see who behind me had said that. There wasn’t anyone there. In my head, I replied, ‘No way. I’m not smart enough. I’ll never be able to do this.’ I knew right then, though, that I was no longer in charge of my future, and I was destined to work in this field. I just didn’t know how it was going to play out.”
“People don’t get sick Monday through Friday, 8–4; they get sick on nights, holidays, and weekends. I decided to try and solve that problem in my community.”
Later, Sherry and her family met the on-call neurosurgeon, who explained that Shannon would not recover and that they needed to take him off of the ventilator. “We appreciated his honesty in helping us make the right decision,” Sherry said. “I never forgot that.”
As Sherry kept working at the law firm, reading clients’ medical records every day, the “internal nagging” to pursue a career in medicine became harder to resist. In 1998, she quit her job and enrolled in college. She co-founded the Student Nursing Association at UAMS–Hope and was elected class president. She also served as the Arkansas Student Nurses Association secretary. In 2001, she graduated from UAMS–Hope as part of the nursing school’s first RN/BSN class.
A short six months into her career as a nurse, Sherry became ill and required two brain surgeries. The neurosurgeon who operated on her was the same surgeon she’d met all those years ago.
Sherry recovered well and went back to work—and back to school. In 2006, she earned her master’s in nursing science as an acute care NP. One day, while working late at the hospital, she ran into the aforementioned neurosurgeon, who asked if she would be interested in working for him. Despite her academic success, Sherry still didn’t understand her own intelligence.
“I told him I couldn’t help him because I wasn’t trained in his specialty, and I wasn’t that smart,” she relayed. “He said, ‘I’ll teach you.’ He has been one of my supervising physicians on-and-off through his and my career for 18 years now.”
To this day, Sherry works in neurosurgery. She also owns her own business, called Telemedicine NP, which allows her to work with adult patients remotely during non-business hours.
Sherry enjoys spending time with her sons, Alex and Adam, as well as her yorkie, Jackson.
submitted photo
“People don’t get sick Monday through Friday, 8–4; they get sick on nights, holidays, and weekends,” she said. “I decided to try and solve that problem in my community.” She is reachable via phone at 903-205-1866 or her website, telemedicinenp.org.
A young Sherry couldn’t have imagined such a future for herself. And now? “I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life,” she said.
FSLM ASKED SHERRY…
What is something most people don’t know about you? I love aviation! I would love to be a helicopter pilot.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I really had no idea what I wanted to do. I had so much trouble with math and science in school that I never felt smart enough to do anything that required a large amount of time and education. Ultimately, I wanted to be a physician. When I finally figured it out, it was too late [to go to medical school].
What’s your favorite podcast? My favorite podcasts right now are Knife After Death, Mother Knows Death, and Erika Taught Me.
Each woman featured in this issue was chosen by an honoree from last year’s Tribute to Women to be recognized for their extraordinary contributions to the Texarkana community.
photo by shane darby
Kelly Pack’s Words:
I nominated Sherry to be recognized in this issue of the Tribute to Women because she is such an outstanding member of our medical community here in Texarkana. She works tirelessly providing top-level care to her patients in the St. Michael neurosurgery department, and she also runs a telehealth practice and provides on-the-go care 24/7 for many people. To provide the deep level of care that she does for so many patients is just a testament to her dedication to her craft and education. She is everything that is good and right about a healthcare provider, and I am so grateful she serves our community.