Lucia Thornton ThD, RN, MSN, AHN-BC

Lucia is a former president of the American Holistic Nurses Association and has been involved in nursing, holistic healing and healthcare for over 40 years. Lucia has taught undergraduate and graduate nursing students at California State University Fresno and throughout the country for the Certificate Program in Holistic Nursing. She has held clinical, managerial, and administrative positions in various organizations and hospital settings including emergency and trauma, intensive care, nursing education, research and development, school nursing, and quality assurance.
Dr. Thornton helped develop one of the first inpatient hospice homes in the country over 30 years ago. She was instrumental in creating the process of Board Certification for Holistic Nursing in the United States and served as the first Executive Director of the American Holistic Nursing Certification Corporation.
She developed the Model of Whole-Person Caring which was the recipient of the 2004 Norman Cousin’s award and serves as a prototype for creating health and wellness for individuals, organizations and communities. Her work in transforming hospitals and organizations into “healing and healthy environments” has received national, state and local recognition.