A tribute to Suzanne Smith

There are several people on the earth of nursing who we will discover as having shaped the world of nursing education, practice, and leadership. This week we lost one among those people, Suzanne P. Smith, EdD, RN, FAAN.

When the news spread that Suzanne had died unexpectedly, the complete nursing community was in uproar. Suzanne has been an integral a part of the nursing community for a few years. Perhaps best known for her scientific contributions to education and leadership; Suzanne was the editor-in-chief of two nursing journals and was published by Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins until 2011. She also contributed to quite a few books and was a crucial leader within the International Academy of Nursing Editors.

Suzanne has written concerning the importance of evolving nursing education to satisfy the needs of an evolving healthcare system. She was well-known for her work on organizational transformation, process-focused healthcare, and leadership. Suzanne has mentored latest authors, educators, and leaders within the nursing career. She believed in leading by example and was often the bar to which editors, authors, educators and leaders were compared. In 2011, Suzanne was recognized for her contributions to the worldwide nursing and healthcare community by receiving the celebrated President’s Specialty Recognition Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Dr. Suzanne Smith lived the life she wanted, pursuing the career she loved a lot, nursing. Her legacy shall be stuffed with inspiration, dedication and fortitude. Suzanne believed that every of us has the ability to rework the organization of health care, education and the nursing career.

Suzanne, you shall be greatly missed.

From the Wolters Kluwer Health / Lippincott Williams & Wilkins family