Linda H Aiken, PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN
Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing, Professor of Sociology, and Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research
Contact Information
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Room 387 Fagin Hall
418 Curie Blvd.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4217
UNITED STATES
tel: (215) 898-9759
email: laiken@nursing.upenn.edu
Linda H. Aiken is an authority on causes, consequences, and solutions for nurse shortages in the U.S. and internationally. She directs the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, is The Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing, Professor of Sociology, and Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-directs the National Council on Physician and Nurse Supply, addressing national and global shortages of health professionals. Dr. Aiken has won the 2006 Baxter International Foundation's William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research, 2006 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award from Research!America for Sustained National Leadership in Health Research, 2005 AcademyHealth Distinguished Investigator Award in Health Services Research, and 2003 Individual Earnest A. Codman Award from JCAHO for her work demonstrating relationships between nursing care and patient outcomes. Dr. Aiken leads the International Hospital Outcomes Consortium, studying the impact of nursing shortages in 16 countries. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel guiding the World Alliance for Patient Safety, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the National Academy of Social Insurance, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in the U.K., and former president of the American Academy of Nursing.
Teaching
Dr. Aiken teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses that delve into current issues in health and social policy and health outcomes research in both nursing and sociology. She also directs an NIH-funded pre- and post-doctoral research training program in health outcomes research.
Research
Linda H. Aiken is an authority on causes, consequences, and solutions for nurse shortages in the United States and around the world. Dr. Aiken leads the International Hospital Outcomes Consortium studying the impact of nursing on patient outcomes in 13 countries, and directed the Nursing Quality Improvement Program in Russia and Armenia demonstrating the successful application of twinning initiatives in nursing to improve hospital quality. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel guiding the World Alliance for Patient Safety. She is a leading expert on global nurse migration, its consequences, and solutions in developing and developed countries. Her research is frequently cited by the press, and she is winner of 3 American Academy of Nursing Media Awards.
• Currently Funded Grants
• Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research
Clinical Practice
Dr. Aiken is interested in medical-surgical nursing, AIDS care, and care for serious mental illness.
Honors/Credentials
Dr. Aiken is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow and former president of the American Academy of Nursing, an Honorary Fellow in the Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom, and a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Recent awards acknowledging Dr. Aiken's significant contributions to health outcomes research include the following:
- Elected Theodore Roosevelt Fellow, American Academy of Political & Social Science, 2002
- Barbara Thoman Curtis Award 2002, American Nurses Association
- Baxter Episteme Research Award 2001, Sigma Theta Tau International
- Distinguished Pathfinder Research Award 2001, Friends of National Institute of Nursing Research
- Media Award 2001, American Academy of Nursing
- William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research, Baxter International Foundation and Association of University Programs in Health Administration, 2006
- Distinguished Investigator Award, AcademyHealth, 2005
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award for Sustained National Leadership in Health Research, Research!America, March 21, 2006
- Article-of-the-Year Award for best health services research article, AcademyHealth, 2003 for "Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction," JAMA 288/16;1987-1993, 2002.
- Individual Ernest A. Codman Award, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 2003
- Media Award, American Academy of Nursing, 2004, for press coverage of "Hospital Staff Nurse Work Hours and Patient Safety" Health Affairs, 23(4):202-212, July, 2004.
- Media Award, American Academy of Nursing, 2003 for press coverage of "Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction"
- Media Award, American Academy of Nursing, 2001, for press coverage of "Nurses' Reports on Hospital Quality in Five Countries".
| Publications (select year) 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 and Prior | In Press | More Publications |
My policy research agenda is motivated by a commitment to improving health care outcomes by building an evidence base for health services management and providing direction for national policymakers. My Center’s program of international outcomes research deals with the impact of modifiable organizational attributes on patient outcomes and workplace stability in hospitals, causes and consequences of, and solutions for, cyclical nurse shortages, and managerial innovations such as magnet hospitals. 