Atlanta, Ga. – The National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) today presented its prestigious Brenda Lyon Leadership Award to Cynthia Bautista, PhD, RN, CNRN, SCRN, CCNS, ACNS-BC, FNCS, an Associate Professor at Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn. and Neuroscience Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn. This Award recognizes extraordinary leadership in service to NACNS. It is named for Brenda Lyon, a founding member and the second president of NACNS, and was presented at NACNS’ Annual Conference.
Bautista has been a member of NACNS since 1995. She’s served on and is the current chair of NACNS’ Research Committee. As such she facilitated updating the research section of the association’s website, led research mentoring sessions at annual meetings, reviewed articles for publications, including NACNS’ journal Clinical Nurse Specialist: The International Journal for Advanced Nursing and encouraged her CNS colleagues to get involved in research activities. Bautista is also a member of the NACNS Research Agenda and Priorities Task Force.
“Since NACNS’ beginning more than 20 years ago, Dr. Bautista has shown a deep commitment both to promoting nursing research and to the importance of the clinical nurse specialist role,” said NACNS 2016 President Sharon Horner, PhD, RN, MC-CNS, FAAN. “The association and all our members have benefitted greatly from her leadership and commitment to developing the clinical nurse specialist role. Dr. Bautista exemplifies the type of leader we all strive to be. Her honesty, forward-looking frame of mind, clinical competence and intelligence inspire her colleagues and she serves as an example for the next generation of CNS leaders.”
Bautista earned her BSN from Salem State College in Salem, Mass., her MSN in Adult Health from Louisiana State University Medical Center, in New Orleans, La. and her PhD from the University of Rhode Island’s College of Nursing in Kingston, R.I. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, MuChi Chapter; the American Association of Critical Care Nurses; American Association of Neuroscience Nursing; World Federation of Neuroscience Nursing; Neurocritical Care Society; Eastern Nursing Research Society; Society of Critical Care Medicine; and American Nurses Association – Connecticut State Nurses Association.
Bautista also owns her own business Nursing Brains, LLC, which provides continuing education seminars for hospitals, universities and conferences on a variety of neuroscience nursing topics.