For greater than half a century, Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN, elevated the function of nursing at Cedars-Sinai and throughout the nation—inspiring a era of nurses whereas shaping healthcare coverage and advocating for higher fairness among the many ranks of medical professionals—all with the purpose of enhancing look after sufferers.
The distinguished nursing chief, who guided Cedars-Sinai’s Division of Nursing to nationwide distinction, died at her dwelling in Los Angeles on Jan. 11. She was 76.
“Linda Burnes Bolton’s extraordinary management and imaginative and prescient made important contributions to advancing healthcare and the nursing career, not solely at Cedars-Sinai, however throughout the nation,” stated Thomas M. Priselac, president and CEO emeritus, whose profession as president and CEO earlier than retiring final yr spanned a lot of Burnes Bolton’s profession.
“She was additionally a real good friend,” Priselac added. “I’m personally grateful to have labored alongside her and to have witnessed her many contributions, her robust management and her voice in advocating for well being fairness.”
Burnes Bolton — affectionately referred to as LBB by her colleagues — began her Cedars-Sinai profession as a workers nurse in Labor and Supply in 1971. She grew to become the primary superior observe nurse at Cedars-Sinai, one among her first massive steps towards dramatically shifting the nursing tradition on the hospital and past.
“I by no means had the privilege of assembly Dr. Burnes Bolton, however I do know her extraordinary legacy is woven into the very cloth of Cedars-Sinai and can proceed to form its historical past for generations to return,” stated Peter L. Slavin, MD, present president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Middle and Cedars-Sinai Well being System.
Burnes Bolton held quite a few management positions throughout her lengthy and distinguished profession at Cedars-Sinai, together with chief nursing officer, senior vice chairman and chief well being fairness officer, and held the inaugural James R. Klinenberg, MD, and Lynn Klinenberg-Linkin Chair in Nursing. She led Cedars-Sinai by its first 5 Magnet designations, a distinction granted by the American Nurses Credentialing Middle to acknowledge nursing excellence.
Burnes Bolton grew up in Tucson, Arizona, the oldest of 12 youngsters. She cited her mom because the guiding affect in her life—beginning in childhood, she discovered essential classes concerning the values of generosity and advocacy.
“I’ve all the time given to others. That’s who I’m,” she stated in a 2015 interview with American Nurses Basis. The quantity is just not what’s vital. It’s the reward, the expression of affection and caring: What drives me is the necessity to really feel that individuals know they’re liked and cared about.”
Burnes Bolton determined she wished to be a nurse when she was six, impressed by those that cared for her when she was ceaselessly hospitalized for extreme bronchial asthma. She earned an undergraduate diploma in nursing from Arizona State College and three graduate levels from UCLA: grasp’s levels in nursing and public well being and a doctorate in public well being.
Whereas working with the Black Nurses Affiliation, she helped to develop a neighborhood collaboration mannequin that linked physicians and nurses in skilled societies with neighborhood companies and organizations. The mannequin was adopted by greater than 100 communities nationwide.
“The essence of nursing is human caring, and that essence drives me every single day,” she stated in a 2014 American Group for Nursing Management deal with. “I see it as a present to the world that nurses give and why we proceed to be essentially the most trusted career in america.”
Burnes Bolton advocated for coverage adjustments that will enable nurses to observe on the high of their license—that means they need to be empowered to offer care to the total extent of their schooling, coaching, and skills. She advocated for legal guidelines and rules that will enable nurses extra autonomy to look after sufferers and for nurses to be seen as vital companions in care.
Throughout her tenure, Burnes Bolton oversaw creation of the Geri and Richard Brawerman Nursing Institute, which offers alternatives for nursing schooling, skilled improvement and analysis. Cedars-Sinai hosted its first nursing analysis convention in 1994 with simply 5 abstracts. The analysis enterprise has grown exponentially. In 2020, on the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention continued with 81 abstracts to share.
Burnes Bolton served in lots of nationwide management positions, together with as president of the American Academy of Nursing, the American Group of Nurse Executives (now referred to as the American Group for Nursing Management) and the Nationwide Black Nurses Affiliation.
Burnes Bolton was elected to the Nationwide Academy of Drugs in 2015. She additionally served on the editorial board of the American Journal of Nursing.
Amongst her many accolades, she acquired the American Academy of Nursing 2022 Lifetime Legacy Award and the American Group for Nursing Management Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 and was included in Fashionable Healthcare’s High 25 Ladies in Healthcare in 2011. In 2016, she was named a Dwelling Legend by the American Academy of Nursing.
“It’s my hope that everybody sees nursing because the career that’s dedicated to fairness in human caring,” she stated throughout a 2021 Way forward for Nursing Initiative “hearth chat” video interview.
“We will need to have excellence in human caring and have all professions attempt for fairness. That will be a mechanism for us to really get to a more healthy world the place all human beings have the equal proper to get wholesome and keep wholesome.”
