Elizabeth “Liz” Bridges
December 2023
Elizabeth “Liz”
Bridges
,
PhD, CCNS, FCCM, FAAN
Patient Care Services
University of Washington Medical Center
Seattle
,
WA
United States
What sets Liz apart is the humanity and compassion that she brings into every endeavor.
Liz Bridges is an Extraordinary Nurse. While Liz’s retirement from UW Medical Center sparked this award, it truly reflects a lifetime of achievements.
Liz has served with distinction at the national, regional, and local levels. She served as an Air Force critical care nurse researcher for 22 years in active service, with an additional 8 years as a Colonel in the reserves. During this time, she led a collaborative team of Air Force nurse researchers to study casualty care under unique conditions, including battlefield, aeromedical evacuation, and disaster response. The largest operational nursing research program in the Department of Defense, it led to improvements in the management of hypothermia and pressure injury prevention.
She was an instructor and course director with the Defense Institute for Medical Operations, where she taught regional disaster response and trauma system management to medical professionals in some of the world’s most war-torn regions and created the TriService Nursing Research Battlefield and Disaster Nursing Pocket Guide, which provides evidence-based practice recommendations for care under austere conditions. She received a prestigious Legion of Merit award from the Air Force in recognition of her steadfast commitment to advancing care of wounded troops.
Liz served as President for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses in 2020, where she led the organization through the most chaotic days of the pandemic. During this time, she was a key contributor to the Crisis Standards of Care work at UWMC. When another nurse leader was deployed, Liz stepped in to direct the vaccine clinic at the NW campus.
She has also served as a key partner to the DAISY Foundation since the inception of the DAISY Grant program in 2010, which helped to fund nursing research and Evidence-Based Projects. Liz provided key guidance on the structure of the program and served as the chair of the J. Patrick Barnes Grant Review Committee. She engaged several outstanding researchers and EBP experts to ensure that the funding was used to advance nursing science. The foundation’s goal of engaging staff nurses in research and EBP projects was realized. Bonnie Barnes, Co-Founder of the DAISY Foundation, says, “Liz continues to review applications for us and has been a tremendous friend to DAISY and to Mark and me.”
Liz also serves on the Seattle Nurses Research Conference (SNRC) committee. In this role, she organizes the annual conference, identifying national experts to come and present in the plenary sessions. She strongly encourages UWMC nurses to submit their abstracts for inclusion in the poster and podium sessions. She is a key leader for our Shared Governance Councils, frequently asking the question, “How do you know you’re making a difference?” She has built research and EBP competencies for the UWMC team through her coaching and mentoring of staff and leaders, as well as offering the popular EBP Bootcamps, which include a section on how to quickly review literature-an approach that she has called Speed Dating.
The last few years have continued to be busy for Liz. In 2021, she collaborated on submitting UWMC’s Magnet application, which ultimately resulted in an unprecedented 7th designation with no deficiencies. She has also stepped into the role of Interim Chair for the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics for the UW School of Nursing.
With more than 60 publications and more than 1200 citations of her work, Liz has credibility. What sets Liz apart is the humanity and compassion that she brings into every endeavor. Given her extraordinary service to the profession of nursing, it is our distinct honor to nominate Liz Bridges for the DAISY Lifetime Achievement award.
Liz has served with distinction at the national, regional, and local levels. She served as an Air Force critical care nurse researcher for 22 years in active service, with an additional 8 years as a Colonel in the reserves. During this time, she led a collaborative team of Air Force nurse researchers to study casualty care under unique conditions, including battlefield, aeromedical evacuation, and disaster response. The largest operational nursing research program in the Department of Defense, it led to improvements in the management of hypothermia and pressure injury prevention.
She was an instructor and course director with the Defense Institute for Medical Operations, where she taught regional disaster response and trauma system management to medical professionals in some of the world’s most war-torn regions and created the TriService Nursing Research Battlefield and Disaster Nursing Pocket Guide, which provides evidence-based practice recommendations for care under austere conditions. She received a prestigious Legion of Merit award from the Air Force in recognition of her steadfast commitment to advancing care of wounded troops.
Liz served as President for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses in 2020, where she led the organization through the most chaotic days of the pandemic. During this time, she was a key contributor to the Crisis Standards of Care work at UWMC. When another nurse leader was deployed, Liz stepped in to direct the vaccine clinic at the NW campus.
She has also served as a key partner to the DAISY Foundation since the inception of the DAISY Grant program in 2010, which helped to fund nursing research and Evidence-Based Projects. Liz provided key guidance on the structure of the program and served as the chair of the J. Patrick Barnes Grant Review Committee. She engaged several outstanding researchers and EBP experts to ensure that the funding was used to advance nursing science. The foundation’s goal of engaging staff nurses in research and EBP projects was realized. Bonnie Barnes, Co-Founder of the DAISY Foundation, says, “Liz continues to review applications for us and has been a tremendous friend to DAISY and to Mark and me.”
Liz also serves on the Seattle Nurses Research Conference (SNRC) committee. In this role, she organizes the annual conference, identifying national experts to come and present in the plenary sessions. She strongly encourages UWMC nurses to submit their abstracts for inclusion in the poster and podium sessions. She is a key leader for our Shared Governance Councils, frequently asking the question, “How do you know you’re making a difference?” She has built research and EBP competencies for the UWMC team through her coaching and mentoring of staff and leaders, as well as offering the popular EBP Bootcamps, which include a section on how to quickly review literature-an approach that she has called Speed Dating.
The last few years have continued to be busy for Liz. In 2021, she collaborated on submitting UWMC’s Magnet application, which ultimately resulted in an unprecedented 7th designation with no deficiencies. She has also stepped into the role of Interim Chair for the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics for the UW School of Nursing.
With more than 60 publications and more than 1200 citations of her work, Liz has credibility. What sets Liz apart is the humanity and compassion that she brings into every endeavor. Given her extraordinary service to the profession of nursing, it is our distinct honor to nominate Liz Bridges for the DAISY Lifetime Achievement award.