Bridges Receives AACN Award for Distinguished Career

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – May 5, 2026 – The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) honors Elizabeth Bridges, PhD, RN, FCCM, FAAN, with its 2026 Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career.

Bridges receives the award for her exceptional leadership, service and contributions to nursing practice, which enhance the care of critically ill patients and their families and the nurses who care for them, and further AACN’s mission and vision. The presentation will occur during the 2026 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition in San Diego, May 17-20.

Bridges is a nationally recognized critical care expert with over 40 years of experience. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington (UW) School of Nursing, where she earned master’s and doctoral degrees before joining the faculty in 2004. She served as the clinical nurse researcher at UW Medical Center before retiring in 2024.

A retired colonel in the United States Air Force Nurse Corps, Bridges served for 30 years, including deployment to Afghanistan and leading disaster and trauma-response training in over 20 countries. She led one of the Department of Defense’s largest military nursing research programs, advancing evidence on the care of critically injured service members during long-distance transport and in austere environments. She is editor of TriService Nursing Research Program “Combat & Disaster Nursing” and “Battlefield and Disaster Nursing Pocket Guide”.

Bridges has been a dedicated AACN volunteer for decades, contributing to the development of the CCRN and CCNS exams, serving on the AACN Board of Directors, and leading the association as president in 2020-2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has served on the editorial boards of the AACN journals and contributed to “AACN Essentials of Critical Care Nursing.”

Through her research, publications and presentations, Bridges is widely known for expertise in hemodynamics, sepsis and evidence‑based practice.

AACN previously honored Bridges as the 2015 Distinguished Research Lecturer and presented her with the Flame of Excellence award in 2011.

In addition to her degrees from UW, she is a graduate of Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland.

About the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award: Established in 1997 and named for an AACN past president, the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career recognizes extraordinary and distinguished professional contributions that further AACN’s mission and vision of a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families where acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. Recipients of this Visionary Leadership Award receive a $1,000 gift to the charity of their choice and a crystal replica of the presidential “Vision” icon. Other Visionary Leadership awards, AACN’s highest honor, include the Lifetime Membership Award and the AACN Pioneering Spirit Award.

About the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition: Established in 1974, AACN’s National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI) is the world’s largest educational conference and trade show for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients and their families. Bedside nurses, nurse educators, nurse managers, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners attend NTI.

About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 55 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 134,000 members and over 170 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