Judith Gedney Baggs papers, 1986-2013

Dr. Judith Baggs Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., is a nationally recognized researcher in the field of interprofessional collaboration and collaborative end-of-life decision making in the intensive care unit setting. She demonstrated that collaboration between nurses and physicians in the ICU benefited both patients and clinicians.

Baggs earned both her Master's degree (1984) and her Ph.D. (1990) from the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She also began her research on collaboration between nurses and physicians and its effect on ICU patient outcomes there. She later shifted to an interest in palliative care, studying ICU end-of-life decision-making from the perspective of patients, family, nurses, physicians, and other members of the interprofessional team.

Baggs worked at the University of Rochester Medical Center for 12 years, initially as a Medical Intensive Care Unit staff nurse. For the next 15 years she worked in the School of Nursing, eventually as Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. Dr. Baggs then moved to Oregon, working at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing as Senior Associate Dean for Academics and Director of the Ph.D. program. She semi-retired in 2018, but continues to be active professionally, assisting OHSU nursing faculty and editing the Journal of Interprofessional Care. Dr. Baggs is the recipient of numerous awards including the Distinguished Research Lectureship Award from the Western Institute of Nursing and the Elizabeth N. Gray Distinguished Professor from the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing.