Faculty Profile for Dr. Kathy Smith

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Dr. Kathy Smith is the Graduate Program Director and an Assistant Professor at Texas State University. She has over 20 years of experience in nursing practice, education, and higher education administration. In addition to Associate and Bachelor of Science Degrees in Nursing from New Mexico State University, she earned a Master of Science in Nursing and Post Master’s Certificate from Texas Tech University Health Science Center. Dr. Smith completed a Doctor of Education in Leadership Administration in Higher Education from the University of Mary Hardin Baylor. She is dually board-certified as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse in Acute Care and Family Practice. As an APRN, she has practiced in integrative medicine, primary care, internal medicine, occupational medicine, and university school-based settings. Her research endeavors include perceptions of support for academic nursing administrators, innovation and improvement in graduate nursing education, and health disparities in the LGBTQI community. Her current professional memberships include the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Texas Nurse Practitioners, American Nurses Association, Texas Nurses Association, and Kappa Delta Pi.

Teaching Interests

Leadership, Role Development, Health Policy, and Nurse Practitioner Courses

Research Interests

Her research endeavors include perceptions of support for academic nursing administrators, innovation and improvement in graduate nursing education, and health disparities in the LGBTQI community. Previous research also included multimodality pain management in adults, and cardio-metabolic syndrome in women.