BSN, 1995, Ball State University
Professor Smith began teaching at Olivet in the fall of 2020 after obtaining her masters degree in Nursing Education from Western Governors University. Prior to that, Karen worked as a pediatric and pediatric ICU nurse for 24 years at several prominent children's hospitals in Chicago and Indianapolis. She is a Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN), certified through the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON) and is certified in Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS). She worked as a staff educator for several years and found she loved educating the staff, patients and their families.
Later in her career she began working with nursing students in the hospital setting and found it to be very rewarding. Karen felt God's call to begin teaching full time and is thrilled to work for a Christian university where she can share her love for pediatric nursing and share her faith with her students!
Karen has been married to Andy since 1997 and they have been blessed with four children: Liam, Cassidy, Declan and Keagan. As a family, they enjoy hiking, backpacking and family scrabble nights. Ruby, their beloved dog, is the favorite member of the family!