03/6/2008

Rita Smith Honored by Institute of Nursing

JERSEY CITY - The Institute of Nursing has named Rita Smith, Senior Vice President Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer of Jersey City Medical Center, one of 11 people who help advance health care in New Jersey.

The award from the Institute of Nursing, part of its “Divas and Dons” in Nursing program, celebrates the outstanding achievements of accomplished New Jersey nurses. The Institute funds scholarships for nursing students and nurses advancing their education, and provides for quality continuing education programs and grants for nurses involved in research.

“Through her dedication to patients and her dedication to the nursing profession, Rita brings credit to the entire medical community and especially Jersey City Medical Center,” said Joe Scott, President and CEO of LibertyHealth System, Inc. “On behalf of the entire LibertyHealth family, I want to personally congratulate Rita for her ongoing efforts to ensure the highest level of nursing care. No one is more deserving of this award.”

Ms. Smith is a graduate of Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing in Lexington, Kentucky. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Kean University, Union, New Jersey; a Masters’ in Public Administration-Health Care Policy from New York University in New York City and is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Nursing at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, New Jersey.

Ms. Smith is credentialed as an advanced nursing administrator (CNAA-BC). She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Organization of Nurse Executives of New Jersey, Sigma Theta Tau, Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses and the American Nurses Association.

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