Mobile Logo in White

Lily Thomas, PhD, RN, FAAN

Lily Thomas, PhD, RN, FAAN is the Vice President of System Nursing Research at Northwell Health. In her current role, she is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to promote nursing research and evidence-based practice across the health system. Her focus is on developing a coordinated program of nursing research, facilitating innovations and evidence-based interventions to improve patient care, and patient care delivery systems.

Selected highlights of Dr. Thomas’s contributions include coordinating the development of the Collaborative Care Model—an organizational model for operationalizing the philosophy and core values of the health system, as well as an infrastructure for supporting the model and implementing change; developing educational innovations for workforce empowerment; testing the implementation of a standardized shift-to-shift handoff strategy at bedside; and implementing TeamSTEPPS™ (Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety) to enhance quality and patient safety. Dr. Thomas has also designed a problem-solving model to enable nurse managers to identify and develop appropriate strategies for optimal patient outcomes. The model has been replicated 70 times with successful outcomes. She is responsible for maximizing research and evidence-based practice capacity by providing educational programs, applying for grant support, mentoring investigators, fostering the dissemination of findings and integration of findings in daily practice, and instigating local and national collaborations.

Dr. Thomas is a member of the Regional Alliance for Evidence-Based Practice, New York. She is also the Chair of the System Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Council of Northwell Health; the council has representation from the hospitals in the system, as well as area schools of nursing. Dr. Thomas presents regularly on research and evidence-based interventions at local, regional, and national forums.