LeeAnn B
Smith
May 2025
LeeAnn B
Smith
,
MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CV-BC
Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center
Charlotte
,
NC
United States
Her commitment extends beyond her daily responsibilities—she ensures every teammate feels seen, supported, and valued. Her compassion and selflessness set her apart. She embodies holistic care, ensuring patients and colleagues receive the support they need to thrive. Her work has left an indelible mark on our organization's culture of well-being.
LeeAnn Smith, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CV-BC is a nursing professional development (NPD) specialist who excels in facilitating professional role development and practice transitions. Each year, she oversees over 100 nurses in the clinical advancement program within her service line. LeeAnn supported a certification drive where 40% of eligible nurses pledged to become certified within 6 months, increasing the certification rate for the cardiac service line to 29%. She champions advanced skills for nursing assistants (NAs) through the NAI+4 program and standardized onboarding by creating a comprehensive guide and an escape room-style event to ensure knowledge and skills acquisition during orientation. Additionally, she supports the transition of new graduate nurses (NGNs) into clinical practice by developing and facilitating a game-based learning event during orientation for over 125 nurses annually. All NGNs reported increased confidence in medical-surgical nursing skills after attending. Nurses also reported improved ability to perform skills according to policy and practice standards, enhanced critical thinking, and the provision of quality and safe patient care.
LeeAnn demonstrates integrity and accountability for her nursing practice. To support NPD practitioners, she disseminated an educational needs assessment, which identified a knowledge gap in the NPD Scope and Standards of Practice. To bridge the gap, leveraging the principles of adult learning theory, she created and facilitated an IRB-approved book club discussing the scope and standards. Participants reported increased role confidence after book club participation. One participant said, “Open discussion with fellow NPD practitioners increases my confidence by validating processes, approaches, and educational design.” As a nurse planner, LeeAnn identifies conflicts of interest in educational activities and ensures content is based on the best evidence. She plans and implements programs that support the needs of diverse learners, ensuring inclusivity and sensitivity. She advocates for learners and promotes psychological safety. She supports the competency process, providing confidentiality for learners and ensuring that validators do not feel pressure to provide favorable assessments when unwarranted.
LeeAnn is committed to facilitating continuous growth for nurses through ongoing professional learning. She oversees 15 different courses offering free contact hours. She participated in IRB-approved research where nurses engaged in emergency response simulation, significantly improving their confidence in recognizing clinical deterioration. She collaborated with an interprofessional team to create a tiered approach to peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion training. After course completion, 94% of simulation participants reported increased confidence in PIVC insertion. Four of the five participating units had a reduction in Vascular Access Team (VAT) consults post-intervention, resulting in cost avoidance of $490 per patient. LeeAnn advances the nursing profession by disseminating evidence through presentations at local and national conferences. A lifelong learner, she remains up to date on current practice in her specialty area and NPD. She is currently the President-elect for a local affiliate of the Association for Nursing Professional Development. Through her efforts in membership recruitment, she has successfully increased affiliate membership by 45%.
As a well-being coach, LeeAnn has mentored and supported nurses, embodying resilience, vulnerability, and compassion. All reported decreased burnout as a result of her coaching. Even amid her own challenges, LeeAnn courageously shares her experiences, using her journey as a source of strength and inspiration for others. She has fostered a culture of psychological safety, demonstrating that vulnerability is a powerful tool for healing and connection. Her ability to create a safe and supportive space has empowered others to speak openly about their struggles, seek help, and find solace in shared experiences. Beyond her coaching role, LeeAnn is a dedicated Well-Being Committee member, advocating for teammate well-being. She shares resources, spreads awareness, and champions initiatives that support her colleagues' mental and emotional health. Her commitment extends beyond her daily responsibilities—she ensures every teammate feels seen, supported, and valued. Her compassion and selflessness set her apart. She embodies holistic care, ensuring patients and colleagues receive the support they need to thrive. Her work has left an indelible mark on our organization's culture of well-being.
LeeAnn participates in quality rounds focused on unit-specific goals, providing immediate feedback in a nonjudgmental, specific manner and encouraging timely disclosure of safety risks. These rounds reduced CAUTIs from 9 to 2, HAPIs from 17 to 13, and CLABSIs from 11 to 8 in a year. She supports a falls reduction program through tailored nursing education. She worked with an interprofessional team to provide hands-on learning with mobility equipment for 278 learners. As a result, falls decreased from 83 to 57 in one year. LeeAnn spearheaded an interprofessional project to increase ICU bed capacity by developing and implementing a high acuity bed designation model in multiple non-ICU units. She contributed to creating care modalities and nursing practice guidelines. A high acuity orientation program with interactive didactic approaches was implemented. As a result, 601 ICU days were saved within one year, resulting in a positive financial impact on patients (net gain of $2,200 per day) and an estimated total cost avoidance of $1,333,000. Patient experience scores in high acuity units were sustained above the 80th percentile throughout the implementation of this new model.
LeeAnn exemplifies the characteristics of a DAISY Nurse Educator by excelling in facilitating professional role development and practice transitions, championing certification drives, creating innovative onboarding and learning events, and significantly enhancing skills, confidence, and quality patient care.
LeeAnn demonstrates integrity and accountability for her nursing practice. To support NPD practitioners, she disseminated an educational needs assessment, which identified a knowledge gap in the NPD Scope and Standards of Practice. To bridge the gap, leveraging the principles of adult learning theory, she created and facilitated an IRB-approved book club discussing the scope and standards. Participants reported increased role confidence after book club participation. One participant said, “Open discussion with fellow NPD practitioners increases my confidence by validating processes, approaches, and educational design.” As a nurse planner, LeeAnn identifies conflicts of interest in educational activities and ensures content is based on the best evidence. She plans and implements programs that support the needs of diverse learners, ensuring inclusivity and sensitivity. She advocates for learners and promotes psychological safety. She supports the competency process, providing confidentiality for learners and ensuring that validators do not feel pressure to provide favorable assessments when unwarranted.
LeeAnn is committed to facilitating continuous growth for nurses through ongoing professional learning. She oversees 15 different courses offering free contact hours. She participated in IRB-approved research where nurses engaged in emergency response simulation, significantly improving their confidence in recognizing clinical deterioration. She collaborated with an interprofessional team to create a tiered approach to peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion training. After course completion, 94% of simulation participants reported increased confidence in PIVC insertion. Four of the five participating units had a reduction in Vascular Access Team (VAT) consults post-intervention, resulting in cost avoidance of $490 per patient. LeeAnn advances the nursing profession by disseminating evidence through presentations at local and national conferences. A lifelong learner, she remains up to date on current practice in her specialty area and NPD. She is currently the President-elect for a local affiliate of the Association for Nursing Professional Development. Through her efforts in membership recruitment, she has successfully increased affiliate membership by 45%.
As a well-being coach, LeeAnn has mentored and supported nurses, embodying resilience, vulnerability, and compassion. All reported decreased burnout as a result of her coaching. Even amid her own challenges, LeeAnn courageously shares her experiences, using her journey as a source of strength and inspiration for others. She has fostered a culture of psychological safety, demonstrating that vulnerability is a powerful tool for healing and connection. Her ability to create a safe and supportive space has empowered others to speak openly about their struggles, seek help, and find solace in shared experiences. Beyond her coaching role, LeeAnn is a dedicated Well-Being Committee member, advocating for teammate well-being. She shares resources, spreads awareness, and champions initiatives that support her colleagues' mental and emotional health. Her commitment extends beyond her daily responsibilities—she ensures every teammate feels seen, supported, and valued. Her compassion and selflessness set her apart. She embodies holistic care, ensuring patients and colleagues receive the support they need to thrive. Her work has left an indelible mark on our organization's culture of well-being.
LeeAnn participates in quality rounds focused on unit-specific goals, providing immediate feedback in a nonjudgmental, specific manner and encouraging timely disclosure of safety risks. These rounds reduced CAUTIs from 9 to 2, HAPIs from 17 to 13, and CLABSIs from 11 to 8 in a year. She supports a falls reduction program through tailored nursing education. She worked with an interprofessional team to provide hands-on learning with mobility equipment for 278 learners. As a result, falls decreased from 83 to 57 in one year. LeeAnn spearheaded an interprofessional project to increase ICU bed capacity by developing and implementing a high acuity bed designation model in multiple non-ICU units. She contributed to creating care modalities and nursing practice guidelines. A high acuity orientation program with interactive didactic approaches was implemented. As a result, 601 ICU days were saved within one year, resulting in a positive financial impact on patients (net gain of $2,200 per day) and an estimated total cost avoidance of $1,333,000. Patient experience scores in high acuity units were sustained above the 80th percentile throughout the implementation of this new model.
LeeAnn exemplifies the characteristics of a DAISY Nurse Educator by excelling in facilitating professional role development and practice transitions, championing certification drives, creating innovative onboarding and learning events, and significantly enhancing skills, confidence, and quality patient care.