Karen Smith MS, RN, CEN, NE-BC
CONSULTANT

With over 35 years of clinical and leadership experience in diverse emergency departments, Karen has successfully applied her knowledge to improve patient care and departmental performance. As a Certified Emergency Nurse and Nurse Executive-Board Certified, Karen maintains clinical expertise in emergency care and nursing administration.

Prior to joining Blue Jay, Karen's more recent experience was serving as director of a busy community hospital ED with 32,000 annual visits. In that leadership role, she coached staff to improve the patient experience and customer satisfaction, implemented process change to reduce the time from admit decision to departure, and redesigned the triage process, reducing time from door to triage assessment. She has also been recognized as an expert in emergency preparedness initiatives for the acute care hospital.

Karen is an active member of the Emergency Nurses Association and formerly served as the Rhode Island State Council President. Her academic achievements include a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science degree in nursing administration from the University of Rhode Island where she was recognized for her academic achievements. She is an instructor for the Emergency Nursing Pediatrics Course and enjoys teaching on a variety of topics such as triage.