About
Throughout her expansive career, Dr. Anna Gawlinski has had a far-reaching influence on nursing practice nationally and internationally. She has helped to improve patient outcomes throughout the UCLA health system by successfully creating an infrastructure to support and sustain evidence-based practice and hospital-based nursing research. Her research focuses on the conduct and dissemination of interventions that improve outcomes in acutely and critically ill patients. For example, Dr. Gawlinski’s research on hemodynamics and oxygenation has assisted nurses to more accurately monitor and intervene to maximize oxygenation and correct hemodynamic derangement in critically ill patients. In addition, Dr. Gawlinski has contributed to the body of knowledge on the therapeutic effects of adjunctive interventions, such as animal-assisted therapy and communication boards for the acutely and critically ill. Her most recent area of research focuses on the nurse’s role in the recovery of errors (identifying, interrupting, and correcting errors). This research uses eye-tracking technology in a novel way to provide unprecedented insight into nurses’ surveillance behaviors as they carry out high risk and error-prone interventions, such as blood transfusion and medication administration. Her mentoring of staff and advanced practice nurses has helped clinicians apply research findings in day-to-day practice situations to improve patient outcomes. Her clinical expertise coupled with her knowledge of research methodology and a pragmatic approach to problem solving has energized clinicians at all levels and increased their commitment to research and evidence-based care.
Faculty Research and Clinical Expertise
Research: Heart failure, interventions that improve patient outcomes, evidence-based practice, diffusion of innovations into practice, quality improvement, advanced practice nursing, outcomes measurement, patient safety, and recovery of errors (identification, interruption, and correcting errors)
Clinical: Acute and critical care cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary nursing. Advanced Practice Nursing. Dr. Gawlinski has experience and is dual certified as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist.
Education
Kingsborough Community College, AA, 1972, Nursing
Long Island University, BSN, 1976, Nursing
University of Alabama, University Station, MSN, 1978, Nursing
University of California, Los Angeles, PhD, 1993, Nursing
California State University, Long Beach, ACNP Certificate, 1995, Nursing
Honors and Awards
1984 UCLA Medical Center Outstanding Service Award
1984 UCLA School of Nursing Outstanding WOS Faculty Award
1985 Director’s Special Award for Outstanding Contributions to Nursing Service
1988 LAAACN Outstanding Chapter Member Award
1989 Graduate Studies Fellowship-UCLA Medical Center
1991 UCLA Medical Center Service Award
1991 Joann Conflenti Education Scholarship - UCLA Medical Center
1991 LAAACN Education Scholarship
1992 LAAACN Special Contribution Award for Research
1993 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award
1994 Director’s Special Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research
1996 American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Nursing Excellence in Clinical Practice Award
1997 American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Nursing Heart Failure Research Prize
1997 American Heart Association Fellow of the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing
1999 Fellow of the American Academy of Nurses
2000 American Heart Association – Finalist, Martha Hill New Investigator Award
2001-2004 American Heart Association – Get with the Guidelines Performance Achievement Award
2002 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses - Wyeth-Ayerst Nursing Fellows Program
2004 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Excellence in Research Award
2008 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Distinguished Research Lecture Award
2010 "Distinguished Alumni Visionary Leader" for University of Alabama, Birmingham
2012 NurseWeek Nursing Excellence Awards 2012: Education and Mentorship
2014 The Daisy Award for Excellence in Education of Advanced Practice Nurses
Publications
Kleinpell R. & Gawlinski, A. (2005). Assessing outcomes in advanced practice nursing: The use of quality indicators and evidence-based practice. AACN Clinical Issues 16; 43-57.
Henneman, E., Blank, F., Gawlinski, A., & Henneman, P. (2006). Strategies used by nurses to recover medical errors in an academic Emergency Department setting. Applied Nursing Research 19:2; 70-77.
Patak, L., Gawlinski, A., Fung, I., Berg, J., Henneman, E., (2006). Communication boards in critical care: A patient’s view. Applied Nursing Research, 19:4;182-190.
Bullock, J., Jordan, D., Gawlinski, A., & Henneman, E. (2006). Standardizing IV Drip Medication Concentrations to Reduce Variability in Concentrations and Medication Errors. Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America. 18: 515-521.
Kleinpell RM., Gawlinski A., Burns SM. (2006). Searching and critiquing literature essential for acute care NPs Nurse Practitioner. 31(8);12-3.
Gawlinski, A. (2007). Evidence-based Practice (EBP) Changes: Measuring the Outcome. AACN Clinical Issues, 18:320-322.
Cole, K., Gawlinski, A., Steers, N., & Kotlerman, J. (2007). Animal Assisted Therapy in Hospitalized Patients with Heart Failure. American Journal of Critical Care. 16: 575-585.
Gawlinski, A., Rutledge, D. (2008). Selecting a Model for Evidence-Based Practice Changes: A Practical Approach. AACN Advanced Critical Care. 19:3;291-300.
Gawlinski, A. (2008). The Power of Clinical Nursing Research: Engage Clinicians, Improve Patients’ Lives, and Forge a Professional Legacy. American Journal of Critical Care. 17: 315-326.
Ong, J., Miller, P., Appleby, R., Allegretto, R., Gawlinski, A. (2009) Effect of a Preoperative Instructional Digital Video Disc on Patient Knowledge and Preparedness for Engaging in Postoperative Care Activities. Nursing Clinics of North America. 44:103-115.
Henneman, E., Blank, F., Gawlinski, A., & Henneman, P. (2010) Strategies Used by Critical Care Nurses to Identify, Interrupt, and Correct Medical Errors. American Journal of Critical Care. 19(6): 500-509
Gawlinski, A., Miller, P.S. (2011). Advancing Nursing Research through a Mentorship Program for Staff Nurses. Advanced Critical Care 22(3): 190-200.
Chung, K., Davis, I., Moughrabi, S., & Gawlinski, A. (2011) Use of an evidence-based shift report tool to improve nurses’ communication. Medsurg Nursing 20:255-260.
Gawlinski, A., Becker, E. (2012) Infusing Research into Practice: A Staff Nurse Evidence-Based Practice Fellowship Program. Journal for Nurses and Staff Development. 28(2): 69-73..
Becker, E., Dee, V., & Gawlinski, A., et al. (2012) Clinical Nurse Specialists Shaping Policies and Procedures Via an Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Council. Clinical Nurse Specialist. 26(2): 74-86.
Henneman, E.A., Gawlinski, A. & Guiliano, K. (2012) Surveillance: A strategy for improving patient safety in acute and critical care settings. Critical Care Nurse. 32(2): e9-e18.
Esguerra-Gonzalez, A., Ilagan-Honorio, M., Fraschilla, S., Kehoe, P., Lee, A.J., Marcarian, T., Mayol-Ngo, K., Miller, P., Onga, J., Rodman, B., Ross, D., Sommer, S., Takayanagi, S., Toyama, J., Villamor, F., Weight, S. S., & Gawlinski, A. (2013) Pain After Lung Transplant: High Frequency Chest Wall Oscillation vs. Chest Physiotherapy. American Journal of Critical Care. March; 22(2) 1-92.
Heafner, L., Suda, D., Casalenuovo, N., S. Leach, L., Erickson, V., and Gawlinski, A. (2013). OB Patient Falls – Who’s Paying Attention?. Nursing for Women’s Health. (2013) Apr/May 2013; 17(2).
Esguerra-Gonzalez, A., Ilagan-Honorio, M., Fraschilla, S., Kehoe, P., Franschilla, S., Lee, A.J., Madsen, A., Marcarian, T., Mayol-Ngo, K., Miller, P., Onga, J., Rodman, B., Ross, D., Shameem, Z., Nandy, K.., Toyama, J., Sommer, S., Tamonang, C., Villamor, F., Weight, S. S., & Gawlinski, A. (2014) Effect of high-frequency chest wall oscillation versus chest physiotherapy on lung function after lung transplant. Applied Nursing Research. February, 27(1) 59-66.
Henneman, E., and Gawlinski, A. (2016) Eye Tracking Technology: An Innovative Approach to Teaching and Evaluating Nurse Patient Safety-Related Behaviors. Nursing Education Perspectives 2016. 73(6): 356-357.
Henneman, E., Marquard, J.L., Fisher, D.L, & Gawlinski, A. (2017) Eye Tracking: A novel approach for evaluating and improving the safety of healthcare processes in the stimulated setting. Simulation in Healthcare. Simulation in Healthcare 2017. 12: 51-56.
Henneman, E., Andrzejewski, C., Gawlinski, A., McAfee, K., Panaccione, T., & Dziel, K. (2017). Transfusion associated circulatory overload (TACO): Surveillance and evidence-based strategies to prevent, identify and manage a serious adverse event. Critical Care Nurse. October, 37(5): 58-66.
Henneman, E., Gawlinski, A., Nicholas, C., McAffee, K., Marquard, J.L., & Andrzejewski, C. Jr (2017). Identification of transfusion associated circulatory overload: An eye tracking study. Clinical Simulation in Nursing. 13(12): 675-679.
Ansryan, L.Z., Branom, R., Gawlinski, A., Jasdaul, M., Kao, Y., Lawanson-Nichols, M., Mamaise, F.T. (2022). The Agile Clinical Nurse Specialist - Navigating the Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Clinical Nurse Specialist. 36(4): 190-195.