President
OADN
Laura Schmidt is the Retired Director of Nursing & Allied Health at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC). As an associate degree graduate, Dr. Schmidt started her career as a medical/surgical nurse at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After transferring and working in the emergency department, she decided to follow her dream of teaching. She accepted a staff development position at Methodist Hospital in South Philadelphia and also began teaching first aid and CPR for the American Red Cross. Upon relocating to Michigan, Dr. Schmidt became an adjunct nursing faculty member. Since a full-time position was not available in education, she accepted a position as the Director of Acute Care Services at Traverse City Osteopathic Hospital overseeing nursing and non-nursing departments. When the hospital merged and prior to closure, she began her career as a full-time educator at NMC. In addition to her NMC responsibilities, Dr. Schmidt is a practicing Nurse Practitioner at Grand Traverse Allergy and is certified through the American Nurses Credentialing Service.
Dr. Schmidt was actively involved in promoting nursing and nursing education across Michigan. Her professional activities included: President of the Michigan Council of Nursing Education Administrators; Chair of the OADN Academic Progression in Nursing Task Force; member of the One Voice for Michigan Nursing committee; member of the Michigan Action Coalition for the IOM/Future of Nursing; advisory board member for the Michigan Center for Nursing; and member for the Michigan Task Force of Nursing Practice. She worked with her nursing team to achieve initial and re-accreditation for both the NMC ADN and practical nursing programs through the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing and developed a simulation program and lab. In addition, she is a member of several professional organizations including American Nurses Association; ANA – Michigan; Michigan Organization of Nurse Executives; Michigan Council of Nurse Practitioners; American Academy of Nurse Practitioners); and Delta Lambda Chapter of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (Saint Louis University).
Dr. Schmidt has presented at state conferences on various educational topics including, the use of joint appointments and implementation of consortium agreements for ADN to BSN partnerships and webinars through OADN. She was the recipient of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Teaching Excellence and League of Innovation John & Suanne Roueche Excellence awards. Dr. Schmidt completed her associate and bachelor’s degrees at Gwynedd Mercy University outside Philadelphia; Master’s degree at Northern Michigan University; Family Nurse Practitioner post master’s certification at Grand Valley University; and her Doctor of Nursing Practice at Saint Louis University.
Friday, November 19, 2021
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM CDT
Saturday, November 20, 2021
12:20 PM – 1:50 PM CDT