BSN, University of Iowa
MS, Wayne State University
PhD, University of Minnesota - Minneapolis
Email: csmith@kumc.edu
Phone: (913) 588-1667
Carol E. Smith, RN, PhD, who joined the University of Kansas School of Nursing faculty in 1984, is known nationwide for her research into the physical, emotional, financial and social effects of complex in-home technology care such as mechanical ventilation or parenteral nutrition on patients and their families.
Her research on high-tech home healthcare inspired a national conference, sponsored by the University of Kansas School of Nursing, discussing ways healthcare and social service communities can pool their efforts to meet the needs of family caregivers and the patients whose lives depend on technological systems.
In 2000, Dr. Smith received a four-year, $2.5 million grant titled, "Rural Dwelling Older Adult: CPAP Adherence Support." The study on obstructive sleep apnea, which effects an estimated 18 million people, will examine the resistance to the commonly prescribed treatment of Continuos Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP). In addition to her examination of treatment resistance she will also work to find what it takes to improve patients' adherence to the treatment and to examine the cost-benefit and effectiveness of a comprehensive, stepped intervention program on adherence to CPAP.
An expert in home care and health education for patients and their families, Dr. Smith was invited by the National Academy of Science in 1996, by the National Institutes of Health Child Health Division in 2000, and by the National Institutes of Nursing in 2001 all in Washington, D.C. to give testimony on families and caregivers managing complex medical equipment in the home.
She has participated in the KU Medical Center's Virtual Classroom, teaching courses via the Internet. Dr. Smith's commitment to teaching was recognized in 1998 when she was awarded the first Phyllis Keeney Lawrence Teaching Award in Nursing. The award recognizes faculty members who are shaping the careers of future nurses and the lives of the patients cared for by these nurses.
Smith received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Iowa, a master's as a primary care nurse practitioner from Wayne State University, where she was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau. Her doctorate is in adult education and nursing from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where she was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, an honorary doctoral education society.
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