Sometimes a simple act of kindness can have a profound effect. When MaryAnn Woodward-Smith was seven, a family friend made her a nurse’s uniform.
“Afterward, any time anyone asked me what I was going to be when I
grew up, I would say emphatically that I was going to be a nurse. That gift set the course of my life. When I think about that event now, I’m reminded how important our actions are … you never know when something you do will make a lasting impression on
someone.”
Clearly, the patients with whom Woodward-Smith works have made a deep impression on her. “For the past 11 years, my primary scope of work has been with women veterans. This group of veterans has had a profound impact on my life. As I have helped them to learn about the VA and to take advantage of the benefits they have earned, they have inspired me by their courage and resilience. Whenever I spend time with them, either as a group or individually, I find my spirit refreshed.”
Although too modest to say it, the impact has been a two-way street. A board certified clinical nurse specialist in adult psychiatry and mental health and a clinical preceptor with Vanderbilt School of Nursing, Woodward-Smith has co-authored two books and received numerous honors for her nursing service.
A big fan of Shel Silverstein’s book, “The Giving Tree,” Woodward-Smith has practiced its lessons all her life. Growing up on an Alabama dairy farm, she was up at 4 a.m. to help milk cows with her four older brothers. When she was 11, her mother died, and Woodward-Smith added cooking and housekeeping to her list of chores.
“I learned to multitask very early in life. I’m not sure that’s the best way to learn, though,” she said ruefully. At 18 her father died, and she put herself through college, including graduate school at Vanderbilt.
Although not a veteran, Woodward-Smith is intensely patriotic. When she went to work with the VA in September 1980, she recalled, “I definitely felt I had found my home.”
In the beginning, the VA was not well equipped to care for servicewomen and their gender-specific issues, but a 1992 law called for more equitable treatment. “That law changed the face of how we care for women veterans.”
The VA has come a long way and continues to make strides. Woodward-Smith noted, “For the past several months, I have been deeply involved in the development, design and implementation of a Women Veterans Comprehensive Health Care Center in Nashville.”
The new facility, which integrates physical and mental health services, is slated to open the second week of May. “This is my dream come true,” said Woodward-Smith, who has already been tapped to share her expertise in an effort to replicate these centers nationally.
Her other “dreams come true” are her two children, Erin and Ian. “I’ve watched them grow and mature into responsible adults whom I would like to know even if they weren’t my children.” She added that she also has a great circle of women friends “who are there to laugh and cry with me … whichever I may need at any given time.” Last summer Woodward-Smith hopped in the car with her best friend and spent almost three weeks traveling Route 66. Her adventurous spirit also includes skydiving, hang gliding and motorcycle riding.
Perhaps one of her key philosophies best sums up her personal and professional faith, “Leap,” she said, “and the net will appear.”
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