Employee Spotlight - Mardi Smith, EAMC-Lanier Cardiac Rehab
March 11, 2024
Mardi Smith, EAMC-Lanier Cardiac Rehab
Providing compassionate care for her patients is the most rewarding part of the job for Mardi Smith (Cardiac Rehab). We recently spoke with her about her career and what Women's History Month means to her.
What is your job title here at EAH? Cardiac Rehab Nurse. How long have you been with EAH?
I started at EAMC-Lanier in March in 2005, but left for about two-and-a-half years, then I quickly came back home to EAMC-Lanier in 2023.
What inspired you to pursue your current job/career?
I can't say I was "inspired" because since I was a little girl, I just knew that was what I was born to do and even my very worst day as an RN, I have never regretted being one.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
In my 30 years of nursing, I would have to say knowing that I have accomplished providing compassionate care to patients and their families through a listening ear, many prayers, hugs, tears, and laughter makes me the most proud, but really isn't that what nursing is all about at the end of the day? I am also proud of accomplishing receiving my BSN after waiting 24 years to pursue it! My Discharge Planning/Case Management Mentor, Kathy Underwood, took me under her wing and provided guidance with a gentleness or a swift kick (whichever was needed in the moment!) and insisted I test for my National Board of Case Management Accreditation. Receiving that accreditation and making her proud was a real accomplishment. Outside of my career, I am most proud of being a Christian and being a mother to my amazing children who are now 21 and 23 years old.
Who is a person in women’s history (whether personally known to you or someone universally known) that has influenced you and who you are today?
My lineage of strong women who have instilled values, morals, drive, determination and independence. My great grandmother raised 10 children as a single mother after her husband passed away at a young age unexpectedly. She even got them to church every Sunday! My grandmother worked in the mill and was a devoted wife and mother as well as a devoted sister. When her husband passed away, she retired and my mother and I moved in with her and she continued to persevere even through her declining health. My mother became a single mother when I was four, yet she worked Monday through Friday, made all the time in the world for me, helped my grandmother with the household and helped care for her aunts and uncles. Now I have a daughter. She is living her life to the fullest after graduating from the University of Alabama with her bachelor's degree and is now seeking her Master's Degree in Social Work and Psychotherapy. She continues to influence and inspire me every day. I pray we continue to display strength so that it continues for years to come.
