Thomas Ahrens is an American

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

, researcher, and educator at

Barnes-Jewish Hospital Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End, St. Louis, Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicin ...

specializing in critical-care nursing.

Education

Ahrens graduated from

Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana ( ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the south and southeast, and the Wabash Riv ...

with a PhD in

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

and

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

in 1987.

Professional and scholarly work

Ahrens has more than 25 years of experience as a critical care nurse, and is the author of five books, more than 100 papers, and more than 40 scientific publications. His book ''Essentials of Oxygenation'' received the Book of the Year Award from the ''American Journal of Nursing''. Ahrens is also a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and formerly served on the board of directors for AACN. He is a recognized authority in sepsis and has given numerous lectures around the country on the subject. Ahrens is a Fellow of the

American Academy of Nursing The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is a professional organization that generates, synthesizes, and disseminates nursing knowledge to contribute to health policy and practice for the benefit of the public and the nursing profession. Founded in ...

, which named him one of its first Edge Runners in 2006; the award recognizes innovations resulting in better care for patients, families, and the community. In 2008, he received the Flame of Excellence award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses; this award recognizes sustained contributions of excellence in acute and critical care nursing.

Business

Ahrens co-founded the company ICU-USA, Inc. in 1999. The company operates a website which provides educational information to hospital staff and medical information to patients and families (particularly those in

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

s). The company also places computer

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

s in public areas for use by patients, families, and hospital staff in accessing the site. The website has been endorsed by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and has been named "The Official Patient and Family Website of the Society of Critical Care Medicine" by the

Society of Critical Care Medicine A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

Personal life

Ahrens and his wife Pat Ahrens have four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahrens, Tom Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American medical researchers American nurses Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis alumni Male nurses Nursing researchers American nursing educators