As director of nursing research and as director of the Center for Nursing Excellence at St. Joseph's Health System, Diana Meeks-Sjostrom's job is to support nurses, whether it be their practice, professional development, community outreach or research.

"The job of the bedside nurse has changed so much," said Meeks-Sjostrom, Ph.D., RN, CS, FNP-C, ONC. "All nurses today are involved in research, whether they want to be or not. Nursing is now an evidence-based practice. Doing something because that's the way it's always been done just doesn't cut it anymore."

In her 20-year career Meeks-Sjostrom has worked as a staff nurse, a charge nurse, an assisted-living facility director, a hospital orthopedic unit manager, a gerontology nurse practitioner and a college faculty member.

Meeks-Sjostrom enjoys helping nurses with their careers and their research challenges. During orientation, Meeks-Sjostrom tells new nurses, "however I can support your growth, I will. I'm here for you."

But this admittedly prim and proper, highly professional woman — the kind that people offer to carry boxes for — has an alter ego when she's away from work. She breaks boards with her bare hands and kicks people.

Three nights a week, Meeks-Sjostrom, who holds a black belt in tae kwon do, heads to a Marietta studio to practice her kicks, work on her upper-body strength and self-defense form, and spar. When her schedule slows down, Meeks-Sjostrom hopes to compete in the Korean form of martial arts.

"I'm a very physical person and always played sports growing up," she said. "I ran track, biked, played soccer, volleyball, softball and ice hockey — which was a full contact sport for girls in Canada, where I grew up."

Meeks-Sjostrom and her husband, Terri, took up tae kwon do after she graduated from nursing school.

"It's good cardiovascular exercise and stress relief, and when I was evaluating patients, I was often in the Grady Hospital parking lot late at night, so there was the safety issue, too," she said.

The sport has become a family activity.

"The thing I like about Marietta Martial Arts is that I can take classes while my son, Zachary (7) is taking classes," said Meeks-Sjostrom. "He's not quite black belt, but he's working on it. We enrolled my husband as a Christmas present, so he got back into it, and now the whole family is involved."

Meeks-Sjostrom enjoys the relaxing, positive environment and believes that learning the art is good for children. It teaches them discipline, self-respect, commitment and leadership.

To earn her black belt, Meeks-Sjostrom had to break four boards with her hand. The ability to do that comes from learning to focus your whole mind and practicing the hand-movements over and over to master them, she said. She is working toward her second-degree black belt, which requires two-and-a-half hours of testing.

Nurses are expected to handle stressful jobs with caring and compassion, so they need an outlet, such as a hobby or a sport, Meeks-Sjostrom said.

"It helps me focus on my job, and at night, I can leave everything behind and focus only on what I'm learning in class," she said. "It's sort of like having a secret identity and it's really fun."