Thomas S. Ahrens

Thomas S. Ahrens PhD RN FAAN is a Research Scientist at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis He has extensively published, including 5 books and over 100 papers. Dr. Ahrens is actively involved in technology application, particularly in terms of hemodynamic monitoring and capnography. He has been widely published in the application of technology to clinical practice. His work with capnography has helped show how end tidal CO2 could accurately predict non survival during cardiac arrests. His funded research includes oximetry analysis, effect of kinetic therapy on pulmonary complications, sedation on mechanical ventilation, stroke volume optimization and capnography in heart failure.

He has developed clinical education web sites for nurses, respiratory therapists and physicians. His book “Hemodynamic waveform analysis” is considered by many to be the finest clinical guide to the topic. His book “Essentials of Oxygenation” was an American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year. He was awarded a Presidential Citation by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. In 2004 was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing.

He is a strong advocate for hospitalized families. He has published a research paper that demonstrated how improving communication with high risk patient families can improve both outcome and costs control. He has helped design communication programs and web sites to aid clinicians in discussions with families. In 2006 he was selected as an Edge Runner by the Academy, which is designated “for those people who are developing innovative solutions that eventually become mainstream solutions”. From 2006-2008 he was AACN’s representative to the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. Since 2009, he has been AACN’s representative for the Critical Care Societies Collaborative (CCSC), with the goal to establish a research agenda for critical care in the US. In 2008 he was award the “Flame of Excellence” award from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses for sustained and influential work in critical care. In 2016, he was awarded a Sepsis Hero Award from the Sepsis Alliance for his work in promoting public sepsis education.