Shelly Porter Smith, PhD, DNP, APRN-BC, FAAN, FNAP
(Shelly P Smith)
Biography
Shelly Porter Smith, PhD, DNP, APRN-BC, FAAN, FNAP, is an associate professor who teaches both undergraduate and graduate students. She earned both a BSN and a DNP from UVA School of Nursing and is a member of the University's distinguished Raven Society.
Prior to her appointment at UVA, Smith worked at VCU School of Nursing where she was a clinical associate professor and served as director of nursing graduate programs overall. As a Translational Research Fellow in Residence at VCU, Smith mentored faculty scholars in legislative advocacy, proposal and grant writing, and authoring policy briefs and white papers.
A long-time preceptor to UVA nurse practitioner master's students, and part of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority’s nursing preceptor incentive program work group, Smith understands well the importance of nursing schools’ ability to build and maintain strong clinical partnerships with health systems around the Commonwealth that augment students’ education and experience. In 2022, she was appointed by Gov. Youngkin to Virginia's Health Care Workforce Development Authority board, and in May 2023, she was elected to the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority's executive board, a group established by the Virginia General Assembly to identify and address health workforce issues across the state.
A fierce advocate for nurse practitioner autonomy, Smith has frequently lent her voice and expertise at the Virginia General Assembly, providing expert testimony during legislative sessions, at caucus, subcommittee, and committee meetings, and, ultimately, helped shape House Bills 793, HB 1600, and Senate Bill 170.
Smith became an American Academy of Nursing Fellow in ’21, was a Distinguished Policy Fellow for the National Academy of Practice, a Wilder School of Government & Public Policy Translational Research Fellow, and a member of the AACN’s Leadership for Academic Nursing Program in 2016. She’s earned multiple awards, too, including an NP State Excellence Award from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in 2021, Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners’ (VCNP) Distinguished NP Award in 2019, and a Distinguished Nurse Practitioner Award from the Richmond chapter of the VCNP.
Honors and Awards
- Virginia Health Care Workforce Development Authority executive board member (2023)
- Virginia's Health Care Workforce Development Authority board member, appointed by Gov. Youngkin (2022)
- American Academy of Nursing Fellow (2021)
- NP State Excellence Award, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (2021)
- Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners' Distinguished NP Award (2019)
- AACN Leadership for Academic Nursing Program (2016)
- Distinguished Policy Fellow, National Academy of Practice
- Wilder School of Government and Public Policy Translational Research Fellow
- Distinguished NP Award, VCNP, Richmond chapter
Publications
Journal Articles
Smith, S. & Raskin, S. (2021). Achieving health equity: Examining telehealth in response to a pandemic. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 17(2), 214-217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2020.10.001
Bleich, M., Smith, S., & McDougle, R. (2020). Public policy in a pandemic: a call for leadership action. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 1(6), 250-252. https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20200514-03
Smith, S., Buchanan, H. & Cloutier, R. (2020). Nurse practitioner scope of practice in Virginia: A legislative case study. The Nurse Practitioner, 45(7), 33-37. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.npr.0000651120.61281.12
Smith, S. & Buchanan, H. (2019). Integrating social media into an online academic program. Nursing Education Perspectives, 40(6), 379-380. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nep.0000000000000387
Smith, S., Buchanan, H. & Cloutier, R. (2019). Political Framing: A strategy for policy analysis. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 5(10), 760-763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2019.10.001
Smith, S., Baernholdt, M. & Elias, B. (2019). The role of interdisciplinary faculty in nursing education: a national survey. Journal of Professional Nursing, 35(5), 393-397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2019.03.001
Columns, Editorials and Op-Eds
Barksdale, D., Kennedy, C., & Smith, S. (2020, Feb. 10). Close the gap: To meet Virginians health care needs, train more nurse practitioners. Richmond Times Dispatch. https://www.nursing.virginia.edu/news/rtd-kennedy-oped/.
Smith, S., & Raskin, S. (2020, April 20). As telehealth use increases, internet access is a necessity for better health. Richmond Times Dispatch. https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/shelly-smith-and-sarah-raskin-column-as-telehealth-use-increases-internet-access-is-a-necessity/article_0f327d55-f5c4-53cc-9f7d-dec4ed6d4033.html.
Smith, S. & Raskin, S. (2020, August 1). COVID-19’s impact on telehealth. The Nurse Practitioner. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32590451/.
Presentations
- Smith, S. (June 24, 2022). Achieving Health Equity Through Policy: The COVID 19 Case Example. Invited Speaker: AANP National Conference. Orlando, FL.
- Smith, S., Grady, E., & Benjamin, G. (October 2021). Expert Panel: Reinvesting in public health. American Academy of Nursing Health Policy Conference. Washington, D.C.