Flagstaff Medical Center would like to congratulate Aura Leaf Edmondson, R.N., A.C.N.P., for being selected as a finalist in the regional NurseWeek/Nursing Spectrum Nursing Excellence awards, sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. She was nominated in the category of Advancing and Leading the Profession. Edmondson, a nurse practitioner in FMC’s Trauma Services, will join other finalists from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Washington at the Mountain West Regional Awards Ceremony on Aug. 28 in Tempe.  

Each year in conjunction with the Nursing Excellence awards, FMC nurses are nominated by their peers for distinction in the following areas: Advancing the Profession, Clinical Care, Community Service, Management, and Mentoring and Teaching.

Edmondson’s colleagues nominated her for building unified trauma services between community physicians and FMC to provide a continuum of care for patients; for successfully reducing the length of stay for trauma patients below national averages; and for increasing communication between all healthcare providers in an effort to improve patient care.

“I am extremely honored to have been nominated by my peers and to be selected as a regional finalist,” Edmondson said. “Working as a trauma nurse practitioner is both uniquely challenging and rewarding, allowing me care for patients who have traumatic injuries.”

Edmondson has worked at FMC since December 2006. Her role includes assessing and caring for patients who have life-threatening injuries through FMC’s Trauma Program and providing education to patients and families related to injury prevention and follow-up care.

Edmondson is certified in neonatal resuscitation, pediatric advanced life support, advanced trauma nursing care, advanced cardiac life support and basic life support. In addition, Edmondson is an instructor in advanced trauma nursing care. Her professional memberships include Northern Arizona Nurse Practitioner Group, American Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International, and American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Edmondson received her bachelor’s in nursing Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona, Tucson; and her master’s in nursing as an acute care nurse practitioner/clinical nurse specialist from the University of California, Los Angeles.

FMC is the only Level 1 Trauma Center north of Phoenix. FMC cares for more than 1,200 adult and pediatric trauma patients each year. Unlike trauma centers in greater metropolitan areas, which see a large number of violent crime victims in their trauma departments, the majority of FMC’s trauma patients come from motor vehicle accidents.