11/01/2024
Heather Smith, who works in the gastroenterology department at Saint Joseph East in Lexington, is known for not rushing her patients. As a nurse practitioner, she has learned a lot about her patients and their barriers to health care by simply taking the time to talk.
“A lot of times I sit down in the room with a patient in a chair, talking to them like I’m their friend, because I think it’s important for them to feel heard, and to feel reassured and to understand and know the plan for their care,” said Heather, who was recognized as Advanced Practice Provider of the Year at her hospital. “That’s how I would want to be treated and my family be treated. So I try to treat everyone as if they were my loved one.”
Heather has been a nurse practitioner since 2016, starting as a float provider in the Saint Joseph system in family medicine before joining the gastroenterology group at Saint Joseph East in 2019. Prior to that, she was an emergency room nurse at Saint Joseph in Lexington for five years, which has earned her a reputation for being calm in the middle of chaos. Heater said she tries her best to practice Saint Joseph’s values daily with her patients.
“We have a duty to our community and our patients to treat them in the best way possible, and that’s just with kindness. And I think when people feel kindness, they will feel better overall, whatever their diagnosis is.”
To read more about Heather, visit the Spirit of Health blog: https://www.chisaintjosephhealth.org/blogs/celebrating-our-people-meet-heather
