Obituary: Renowned nursing leader Linda Burnes Bolton 

Linda Burnes Bolton, former president of AHA’s American Organization for Nursing Executives (now known as the American Organization for Nursing Leadership), and chief nursing officer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, died this month at age 76. She was known for inspiring a generation of nurses while shaping health care policy and advocating for greater equity among all medical professionals, with the goal of improving patient care. 

“Linda Burnes Bolton’s extraordinary leadership and vision made significant contributions to advancing healthcare and the nursing profession, not only at Cedars-Sinai, but across the nation,” said Tom Priselac, Cedars-Sinai president and CEO emeritus. “She brought revolutionary approaches to patient-centered care, nursing education, community health education and healthcare policy that affected thousands of nursing professionals and millions of patients.” Priselac is a former chair of the AHA Board of Trustees. 

Burnes Bolton was very active with the AHA and AONL. She was a recipient of AONL's Lifetime Achievement and Prism awards. In 2016, she was a recipient of the AHA's Trust Award honoring individuals who exhibit visionary leadership in health care and symbolize the Health Research and Educational Trust's mission to use research and education to improve health care quality in policy and practice. 

Burnes Bolton’s career began at Cedars-Sinai in 1971 as a staff nurse. She became the first advanced practice nurse at Cedars-Sinai. In addition to CNO, she also served as Cedars-Sinai's senior vice president and chief health equity officer, and held the inaugural James R. Klinenberg, M.D., and Lynn Klinenberg-Linkin Chair in Nursing.