Thomas Ahrens, RN, PhD, FAAN

Chief Scientist and Learning Officer, Viven Health

Thomas S. Ahrens, RN, PhD FAAN is the Chief Scientist and Learning Officer of Viven Health, based in St. Louis He has extensively published, including 5 books and over 100 papers. He has lectured both nationally and internationally on critical care topics. Dr. Ahrens is actively involved in technology application, particularly in terms of sepsis, hemodynamic monitoring, and capnography. He has been widely published in the application of technology to clinical practice. 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 the 1999 Presidential Citation by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and in 2004 was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing. 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”, for his work with families of hospitalized patients. From 2006-2008 he was AACN’s representative to the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. 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. He is a co-founder of Viven Health, an interactive web based program designed to help the public develop safe health practices. Viven Health’s initial program is designed to prevent infections, e.g. cold and flu, which can lead to sepsis. Sepsis prevention is a key target of reducing the incidence of infections. Viven Health’s goal is to reach the entire American public in order to create culture change for developing safer, more effective public behavior.