ELKINS — For as long as she can remember, Diana Smith wanted to be a nurse. And now the ERCC employee continues to improve on her lifelong goal by obtaining additional certification.

Smith recently completed a course and has received her Resident Assessment Coordinator certification (RAC-CT), said Tara Shaver, ERCC Administrator. Smith works with families to create a care plan for those in short-term care at ERCC, Shaver added.

“We’re extremely pleased that Diana obtained this certification noting that it is a dificult course to complete,” Shaver said. “It’s another way we work to provide the very best care for all of our residents here at the facility.”

Receiving the certification will help Smith better work with a patient’s family members to determine the best course of action when it comes to the resident’s clinical management.

“It was a really dificult course,” Smith said. “I really enjoyed it, and I learned a lot.”

“I wanted to work toward my RAC (Resident Assessment Coordinator) certification to increase my professional knowledge with clinical assessment, care planning, regulations with ICD-10 coding and completion of the MDS. The MDS (Minimum Data Set) is a standardized assessment tool used to evaluate a resident’s health, functional abilities, cognitive status, and psychosocial needs. It is essential for creating personalized care plans and ensuring compliance with federal regulations,” she added.

Smith, a registered nurse, has worked at ERCC since 2018. She graduated from Davis & Elkins College with an associate’s degree in nursing and began her work as a registered nurse in 2001.

“I wanted to become a nurse because it is God given compassion that drew me to want to provide care, comfort and support to the residents and their families during their time at ERCC for rehabilitation therapy,” she said.

Smith has held many diYerent positions in her 24 years in the field. In the more than two decades in healthcare she has worked as a director or nursing and an administrator at another facility. She has also worked in the surgical setting as well as in hospice and in the correctional system as a nurse.

The Huttonsville native has lived in Randolph County since she was 3 years old. She grew up and spent most of her life in Elkins before moving “to the country.” She loves spending time with her family, including her husband, her three daughters and her seven grandchildren. She also likes animals and owns cats, dogs and chickens.

ERCC is a 111-bed, non-profit, short and long-term skilled and intermediate care and rehabilitation facility located in Elkins. For more information: http://www.ercc.biz.