Linda Sarna and Stella Aguinaga Bialous Named American Academy of Nursing Edge Runners for Tobacco Free Nurses Project
Marking World No Tobacco Day 2017, Designation Honors Model that Seeks to Improve Health of Nurses and Patients
Washington, D.C. (May 31, 2017) – On World No Tobacco Day 2017, the American Academy of Nursing announces the designation of Linda Sarna, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Stella Aguinaga Bialous, PhD, RN, FAAN, as Academy Edge Runners for their model, Tobacco Free Nurses (TFN). The Academy’s Raise the Voice Edge Runner initiative recognizes nurse-designed models of care that impact cost, improve quality and influence policy.
Through its award winning website, www.tobaccofreenurses.org, TFN provides national and international tobacco cessation education to practicing nurse clinicians, tobacco control resources for patient care, smoking cessation support and assistance to nurses and nursing students, and methods to enhance nurse leadership and advocacy in promoting a tobacco free society. TFN’s pocket guide, Helping Smoker’s Quit – A Guide for Clinicians, has been one of the most widely requested print documents from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality.
“Designing and implementing a project which reduces the use of a tobacco, the leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide, is a valuable and noteworthy achievement,” said Academy President Bobbie Berkowitz, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN. “Dr. Sarna and Dr. Bialous are commended for designing Tobacco Free Nurses for improving the health of those called to the nursing profession, as well as the patients for whom they care.”
TFN has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an exemplar of health professional advocacy in tobacco control. As of February 2017, over 6,000 nurses have formally participated in TFN educational and policy efforts in the United States and in eight other countries.
“As Co-Principals of TFN, Dr. Aguinaga Bialous and I are thrilled to be designated American Academy of Nursing Edge Runners. We are particularly honored and mindful that this designation fortuitously coincides with World No Tobacco Day,” commented Dr. Sarna, dean and professor, UCLA School of Nursing. Dr. Bialous is an associate professor in residence at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing.
An Edge Runner profile of Tobacco Free Nurses is available here.
Every year, on May 31, WHO and partners mark World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health an d additional risks associated with tobacco use, and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.
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The American Academy of Nursing (www.AANnet.org) serves the public and the nursing profession by advancing health policy and pr actice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge. The Academy's more than 2,500 fellows are nursing's most accomplished leaders in education, management, practice, and research. They have been recognized for their extraordinary contributions to nursing and health care. Follow the Academy on Twitter at @AAN_Nursing.
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