Newswise — The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) recently selected Anne W. Alexandrov, PhD, RN, AGACNP-BC, ANVP-BC, NVRN-BC, ASC-BC, CCRN, FAAN, as its 2022 Distinguished Research Lecturer.
A professor of nursing and neurology at University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), Alexandrov is the chief nurse practitioner of the UTHSC Mobile Stroke Unit and a leading international acute stroke nursing expert.
AACN established the Distinguished Research Lecturer award in 1982 to honor nurses who make significant contributions to acute and critical care research. The annual award recognizes research that improves patient outcomes and advances nursing education and practice.
Alexandrov’s research focuses on stroke, including hemodynamics, the study of blood flow, and reperfusion, which is restoring blood flow to tissue after a stroke has blocked it. She explores innovative ways to augment blood flow in hyperacute large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke and runs a National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial called ZODIAC to study it. She and her team were first to document numerous important LVO hemodynamic findings, including using ultrasound to dissolve blood clots, of which she is co-inventor/U.S. patent holder.
In 2007, Alexandrov developed the NET SMART (Neurovascular Education & Training Acute Stroke Management & Reperfusion Therapies) post-graduate fellowship training program for advanced practice nurses in acute stroke. She has mentored more than 100 APRNs from across the U.S. and internationally in this program.
Her work related to stroke systems of care has documented opportunities for improvement in guideline-directed stroke unit operations and demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of nurse practitioner-led mobile stroke units. She has authored more than 100 original scientific publications related to her work in stroke-reperfusion therapies, experimental blood flow augmentation strategies, and stroke center development and credentialing.
“Dr. Alexandrov’s groundbreaking work has established her as the leading expert on acute stroke nursing around the world,” said AACN President Beth Wathen, MSN, RN, CCRN-K. “Her discoveries have led to improvements in care of stroke patients that have ultimately saved thousands of lives. She’s a shining example of how critical care nurse practitioners are vital leaders in healthcare today.”
As the Distinguished Research Lecturer, Alexandrov will discuss her career and research journey during AACN’s National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI). AACN’s annual conference, NTI will be held in person May 16-18 in Houston and virtually June 6-8. The American Journal of Critical Care will publish an abstract of Alexandrov’s presentation in its May 2022 issue, followed by a complete manuscript in July 2022.
She was the first nurse member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Neurologic Device Approval Panel from 1997-2000, and recently completed a second term on this panel. She is also a former member of the American Stroke Association’s Executive Leadership Board, and a two-term past member of the Board of Commissioners of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
From 2007-2009, she co-chaired the National Quality Forum’s Stroke Committee, which selected evidence-based core measures for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) endorsement/pay-for-performance and served as a member of the NQF Consensus Standards Approval Committee overseeing all quality indicators adopted by CMS for public reporting.
Alexandrov developed the reviewer role for The Joint Commission’s (TJC’s) Stroke Center Certification Program and conducted the first 20 reviews of hospitals applying for this recognition. She continues to be involved with the Stroke Center Certification program and serves on the TJC Stroke Performance Measure Panel.
She is a founding member of the Association of Neurovascular Clinicians and serves as chair for certification and chief certification examination architect for the neurovascular registered nurse and advanced neurovascular practitioner board certifications.
Alexandrov served as national president of AACN in fiscal year 2000, and the organization previously honored her with its 2013 Flame of Excellence award.
Among her many other honors, she was named an Honorary Ambassador to the World Federation of Critical Care Nurses in 2012 and a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2004. In 2003, she received both the American Stroke Association’s Distinguished Service Award and the American Heart Association’s Stroke Manuscript of the Year Award.
She earned a doctorate focusing on hemodynamics from Texas Woman’s University and a Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in emergency and critical care from the University of Texas, Houston.
About AACN’s Distinguished Research Lectureship: AACN established the Distinguished Research Lectureship in 1982 to honor nationally known nurses who make significant contributions to progressive and critical care research. The annual award recognizes research that changes or improves patient outcomes and advances nursing education and practice. Recipients present their award-winning research at the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition and receive a $2,500 honorarium.
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, with more than 130,000 members and over 200 chapters in the United States.
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 27071 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; twitter.com/aacnme
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