Jacqueline Smith

Background

About Jacqueline Smith

First, let me be clear: I had no intention of ever coming back to nursing as a primary career! I was perfectly happy working in insurance at Brown & Brown in Clearwater, until God changed my direction by sending me to Alaska Christian College. Counting down to my Army retirement made that possible, and it was a wonderful time to drastically change my life! I love the students and the mission at ACC and am still connected there in many ways. The work that I did at ACC allowed me to assist Arctic Barnabas Ministries as they transitioned their Development program, but I wasn't prepared for what God had next for me. I've been working part time at Central Peninsula Hospital (CPH) since arriving in Alaska, first on the Med Surg unit (quite a stretch for a 30 year-ICU nurse) and later in their ICU, as a way to keep up with the increased costs of living in Alaska. My Director, Cherlynn Guy, had been after me for some time, offering first one position and then another to entice me to full time, but I did not come to Alaska to be a nurse! Ha! So the opportunity to take our 6 bed ICU to the next level was more than I could resist, and I'm employed full time in nursing for the first time in many years and Loving It! Big changes as we add new staff, some with experience, some to be trained, as we our average patient census has increased from 2-4 to 4-6. We've added eICU with Providence Hospital in Anchorage, allowing us to better care for our patients, and to keep more patients closer to their families (we're 160 miles southeast of Anchorage). As a smallish community hospital we've got a great relationship with our supported communities of Kenai and Soldotna, and I'm proud to be part of building an even better connection to the people here in our piece of paradise in Alaska!