Janie Smith has been a registered nurse since 1979 attaining first her Associates degree and then her BSN. She joined Providence Medical Center in 1978 as a nursing student and after graduation began her RN career as a new graduate nurse in the pediatrics unit. Janie quickly transitioned to the nursery working with both well and critically ill neonates. Janie attained certification as an International Certified Breast Feeding Lactation Consultant in 2000 and officially moved into that position at Providence in 2004 providing clinically expert and compassionate care both to newborns and their mothers. Her recent nomination, by a patient, clearly shows why Janie is such an extraordinary nurse:

In December of 2011 this post-partum patient was faced with both what was probably the best day of her life and at the same time, one of the hardest times of her life: a brand new baby but facing the deployment of her military husband within weeks to Afghanistan. Even at the time of the baby’s birth, they knew that the very next day he would have to return to Fort Riley, Kansas, to prepare for his deployment and time with their precious gift as a new family would be short. Janie, learning of this, not only provided the clinical skills and expertise called for in helping this new mom successfully breastfeed her new baby, she went out of her way to take photos of the baby and of the new dad and mom with the baby so that he would have those to carry with him. As the patient wrote, “it meant a lot that someone cared so much about us in such a delicate situation.”

In addition to being Providence Medical Center’s lactation consultant, Janie has served as a member of the hospital Ethics Committee and currently serves on the hospital’s Mission Council. She further shares her knowledge and expertise serving as a Board member on several committees within our community extending her care of others across the continuum of health.