Erla Kolbrun Svavarsdottir, PhD, RN, BSN, is a Professor and Academic Chair of Family Nursing at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Iceland and at Landspitali University Hospital. Her outstanding scholarship in translating family nursing practice knowledge to practice settings was recently honored by her 2015 induction as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Svavarsdottir served as the Principal Investigator of the Landspitali University Hospital Family Nursing Implementation Project in Reykjavik, Iceland, that took place from 2007 to 2011. This implementation project resulted in the development of the Family Strength Oriented Therapeutic Conversation Intervention and in numerous published research reports using an experimental design to examine family and nurse outcomes across several populations in both inpatient and outpatient settings. The project also resulted in the psychometric development of two new intervention research instruments. Masters and doctoral students in the Faculty of Nursing, University of Iceland were included in this knowledge translation research through mentorships. Dr. Svavarsdottir has also studied persistence, resilience, coping health-related queality of life, well-being, violence in intimate relationships, and adaptation and integration in families who are living with chronic diseases in both Iceland and the United States. The impact of her research has resulted in increased awarness among nurse administrators as well as among researchers and clinicians about the importance of involving families in health care services. For more information contact IFNA member, Erla Svavarsdottir.
