Diane Smith
September 2017
Diane
Smith
,
DNP, RN, CCRN, ACNS-BC, CNML, PCCN
Baptist Health Extended Care Hospital
Baptist Health Little Rock
Little Rock
,
AR
United States

 

 

 

Diane has dedicated her whole 33-year nursing career to Baptist Health and the nurses that walk these halls. She has coached and mentored dozens of nurses, some of whom are in Leadership positions throughout our campus today.
In my opinion, one of Diane's greatest achievements was helping start a new hospital for Baptist Health. In 2007, Diane helped me form, build, and staff Baptist Health Extended Care Hospital. Not only did she serve as the Chief Nursing Officer, but she was also the clinical risk manager, quality manager, patient satisfaction coordinator, employee engagement coordinator, survey readiness coordinator, and many other roles as needed. Even with all of the responsibility on her shoulders, she always put patients and staff first. She always had time for staff and made sure they felt supported.
Diane has always encouraged her staff to advance in their nursing career through training, education, and certification. Diane is one of the reasons Baptist Health Extended Care Hospital is the success it is today. Diane was recently named one of the Top 100 Nurses in Arkansas for 2017. Not only did she receive this honor, six nurses whom she has worked with and mentored also received the Top 100 honor. I can truly say that my success as an Administrator at Baptist Health is due, in large part, to Diane Smith.
***
I had the privilege of working with Diane Smith from 2012-2017. I found her to be a nurse's nurse. She constantly worked with her staff throughout Baptist Health and Central Arkansas to provide them opportunities to grow as a nurse and advance in their career. This happened informally day to day as she would counsel, encourage, or listen. It happened formally through her involvement with the Little Rock Critical Care Course leadership, single-handedly leading the Nurse Leader Manager course. Diane has worked tirelessly to advance the nursing profession at Baptist Health in Central Arkansas and throughout the state.
Diane most recently worked extremely hard to achieve her Doctorate in Nursing Practice while continuing to run the day to day nurse functions at Baptist Health Extended Care Hospital.