{"id":195309,"date":"2023-12-12T09:44:56","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T16:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/?p=195309"},"modified":"2024-08-24T09:28:45","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T15:28:45","slug":"alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/2023\/12\/12\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\/","title":{"rendered":"Alum reflects on her journey: \u2018Everything happens for a reason\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_195310\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-195310\" style=\"width: 1310px\" class=\"wp-image wp-image--caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-195310\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2023\/12\/Smith-L-door-web-opt.jpg\" alt=\"In a hallway, Lauren Smith smiles at a woman in the foreground.\" width=\"1310\" height=\"849\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-195310\" class=\"wp-caption-text\" style=\"width: 1310px\">Lauren Smith (&#8217;03) is an alum of the on-campus bachelor&#8217;s of science in nursing program. She is currently the Regional Chief Nursing Officer at Saint Alphonsus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Alum Lauren Smith (\u201903) is the regional chief nursing officer at Saint Alphonsus. Her path in nursing took a turn she didn\u2019t intend, but looking back now, she knows she benefited from it.<\/p>\n<p>Raised in Boise, Smith originally thought she\u2019d pursue medical school. But her mother is a nurse, and the more Smith learned about a nurse\u2019s role, the more she knew that was the career for her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was particularly impactful to me are the relationships the nurses get to build while they&#8217;re taking care of patients,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThat appealed to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While attending the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing-bsnp\/\">on-campus bachelor\u2019s program<\/a> at Boise State, medical-surgical clinicals were not Smith\u2019s favorite. She said it was \u201cfixed in my head\u201d not to go into a medical-surgical position post-graduation; Smith wanted to be a trauma nurse (\u201cI liked being where the action was\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>Smith knew she needed at least a year in the intensive care unit before she could transition to the trauma unit. But at the time, her mother was the director of the Intensive Care Unit at Saint Alphonsus, which would have caused a conflict of interest in the supervisory reporting relationship.<\/p>\n<p>So when she wasn\u2019t in classes, Smith was working full-time in the Emergency Department at St. Luke\u2019s, typically staffing the 3 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift. Nearing Smith\u2019s graduation, the leader in the St. Luke\u2019s intensive care unit told her they could only hire one nursing student. But they were going with another candidate.<\/p>\n<p>So Smith interviewed in a number of other departments at St. Luke&#8217;s. She ended up in the Clinical Support Unit (float pool), hoping for a variety of work and \u2013 ironically \u2013 starting in med-surg.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI think sometimes we don&#8217;t realize why things are happening around us, but this was the lesson that I learned: that everything really happens for a reason,\u201d Smith said.<cite>Lauren Smith<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIf I hadn&#8217;t gone to the float pool, there&#8217;s no way that I would have experienced all the things that I had moving down the road,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<h2>From floating to leading<\/h2>\n<p>After a few years she was floating all over Boise, Meridian, and Wood River (Hailey, Idaho) hospitals, meeting many new people and gaining knowledge in various units. It was also during Smith\u2019s time in the float pool that she experienced being a first responder to a medication error. This sparked her passion for patient safety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#8217;s where I realized instead of impacting patients one at a time, I could start to impact them on a grander scale,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Over the next several years, Smith transitioned from the Clinical Support Unit to Patient Safety and then to Operations Improvement. \u201cI wanted to impact patient care before negative events even happened,\u201d she said. She moved further from the trauma nurse role she first thought she wanted and deeper into administrative leadership.<\/p>\n<p>After working 22 years with St. Luke\u2019s, Smith decided that it was time to try something new. She <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saintalphonsus.org\/news\/lauren-smith-named-chief-nursing-officer-for-saint-alphonsus-health-system-and-saint-alphonsus-regional-medical-center\">transitioned to Saint Alphonsus<\/a> and now serves as the Regional Chief Nursing Officer. \u201cI&#8217;ve just really enjoyed it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>While Smith acknowledges that nurses often focus on amplifying patients\u2019 voices, she wants to use her leadership position to hear the voices of everyone nurses interact with. This includes colleagues and nursing students.<\/p>\n<p>Smith aims to bring fresh perspective to her position, focusing on listening and \u201ctapping into the knowledge of our frontline teams to drive improvement and make things better, as far as care that&#8217;s offered to people living and visiting in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Pivoting the dream and discovering the benefit<\/h2>\n<p>During her time in the float pool, Smith learned to communicate on a deep level with patients and families going through difficult times, and she developed effective time management and documentation skills. Looking back, Smith doubts she would have learned them as efficiently if she went straight into trauma nursing.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-image wp-image--no-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-195311\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2023\/12\/Smith-L-hallway-sq664.jpg\" alt=\"Lauren Smith wears a red blazer and stands smiling in a hallway.\" width=\"400\" height=\"401\" \/><\/figure><p>\u201cBecause I was in a float pool, sometimes I could move patient assignments every four hours, depending on what was going on and where there was a need,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt meant that I had to develop the habits of staying on top of my documentation and not getting behind on medication administration or other tasks that needed to be completed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now in her CNO role, she\u2019s realized how crucial this kind of on-the-job training is. Smith witnessed critical care nurses floating to med-surg floors to help ease staffing shortages on these busy units. But she noticed these nurses \u2013 who specialize in complex care for one or two seriously ill patients \u2013 growing extremely stressed in these temporary assignments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt occurred to me that for those nurses that specialize right away, you don&#8217;t quite get enough [practice] in nursing school \u2013 in most cases \u2013 to get a good strong flavor of how to do time management, how to build that bond with your patient, and all the other things that need to happen that aren&#8217;t critical-care based,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd now we&#8217;re asking them to double their patient assignment, and I think it&#8217;s anxiety inducing, because it doesn&#8217;t come as easily to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Considering her own experiences, Smith now sees the value in not specializing right away; it exposed her to different areas and gave her a level of comfort others don\u2019t have. She recognizes that it\u2019s easier for her to do her job \u2013 overseeing a host of different units across the health system \u2013 because she\u2019s had experience in them herself. She\u2019s able to identify with and understand the clinical teams she leads.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you&#8217;ve got your foundational elements established through that acute care, med-surg based experience, I think you can go anywhere,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you start there, the sky&#8217;s the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-btn c-btn--border\" href=\"http:\/\/www.saintalphonsus.org\">Learn about Saint Alphonsus<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Email <a href=\"mailto:nursingjobs@saintalphonsus.org\">nursingjobs@saintalphonsus.org<\/a> for information about available nursing careers.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Boise State leaves an impact<\/h2>\n<p>Smith didn\u2019t always see herself in leadership, but one of her first experiences came in nursing school. She stepped into the role of president of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/sna\/\">Student Nurses Association<\/a> (SNA), hoping to make a difference for her peers. Smith wanted to \u201chelp support them as they were going through nursing school and all the other things that were happening in the world at the time,\u201d she said, referring to the attack on 9\/11.<\/p>\n<p>As it turned out, SNA produced some of Smith\u2019s fondest memories, from creating a float for the homecoming parade to building lasting relationships with her peers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s nice to be able to go to school in the valley, and then stay and work in the valley,\u201d Smith said. \u201cFor others in our graduating class who have done that, we&#8217;ve been able to stay connected over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith also particularly enjoyed her behavioral health class. While at work a few years after graduating, she encountered her instructor who candidly said: \u201cYou&#8217;re so good at behavioral health; why didn&#8217;t you go into that setting?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But by that point, while working in the Emergency Department and then the float pool, Smith had realized: \u201cBehavioral health is everywhere, whether it&#8217;s a well-behaved patient or a patient with a lot of things going on that are impacting their mental and physical health,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI feel like every day is behavioral health day when you&#8217;re taking care of people in general. Regardless of what state they&#8217;re in, we&#8217;re always mindful of their behavioral health.\u201d<cite>Lauren Smith<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Reflecting on her time at Boise State, Smith will admit: she was not excited to take a holistic nursing course. But she\u2019s now able to see the impact it had on her career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a gap in my skill set because I was so Emergency Department, ICU-oriented during nursing school,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I&#8217;m really glad I took that holistic nursing course, just to provide some different perspectives around how to have conversations with patients and their families, and now to use some of the same tools to connect with colleagues, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alum Lauren Smith (\u201903) is the regional chief nursing officer at Saint Alphonsus. Her path&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3526,"featured_media":195318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[391,361],"tags":[4061],"class_list":["post-195309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-son-bachelor","category-son","tag-alumni"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Alum reflects on her journey: \u2018Everything happens for a reason\u2019 - School of Nursing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"School of Nursing alumni Lauren Smith&#039;s career journey took a turn she didn\u2019t intend. But looking back now, she knows she benefited from it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/2023\/12\/12\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alum reflects on her journey: \u2018Everything happens for a reason\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alum Lauren Smith (\u201903) is the regional chief nursing officer at Saint Alphonsus. Her path in nursing took a turn she didn\u2019t intend, but looking back now,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/2023\/12\/12\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"School of Nursing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BoiseStateSON\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-12T16:44:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-24T15:28:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2023\/12\/Smith-L-headshot-sq664-665x630.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"665\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katherine Denagy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BoiseStateNurse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BoiseStateNurse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katherine Denagy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/12\\\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/12\\\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katherine Denagy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0ff5e5de1dadcc984dc81b9a0f9e5162\"},\"headline\":\"Alum reflects on her journey: \u2018Everything happens for a reason\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-12T16:44:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-24T15:28:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/12\\\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1391,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/12\\\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/81\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/Smith-L-headshot-sq664.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"alumni\"],\"articleSection\":[\"B.S. in Nursing\",\"SON\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/12\\\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/12\\\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\\\/\",\"name\":\"Alum reflects on her journey: \u2018Everything happens for a reason\u2019 - School of Nursing\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/12\\\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/12\\\/alum-reflects-on-her-journey-everything-happens-for-a-reason\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/81\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/Smith-L-headshot-sq664.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-12T16:44:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-24T15:28:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0ff5e5de1dadcc984dc81b9a0f9e5162\"},\"description\":\"School of Nursing alumni Lauren Smith's career journey took a turn she didn\u2019t intend. 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