Rate My Professor Rahel Naef

Rahel Naef is Assistant Professor for Implementation Science in Nursing Science at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, and Head of the Implementation Science in Nursing Research Group at the Center of Clinical Nursing Science, University Hospital Zurich. A registered nurse trained at the Red Cross School of Nursing in Zurich in 1996, she holds a Bachelor of Science from York University, Toronto (2004), a Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto (2005), and a PhD in Nursing Science from the University of Manchester (2015). In September 2021, she obtained the Venia Legendi from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, qualifying her to supervise doctoral students in nursing science.

Naef’s career spans clinical practice and research: staff nurse and lung transplant coordinator at University Hospital Zurich (1997-2002), Head of the Nursing Practice Development Unit at Lucerne Cantonal Hospital (2006-2007), Research Associate at the Institute of Nursing, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (2008-2016), and Clinical Nurse Scientist at University Hospital Zurich (2016-2020). Her research centers on family health and well-being in vulnerable situations such as acute-critical illness, loss, and bereavement, evaluating the effectiveness of systemic family interventions and implementing evidence-based family nursing practices in acute care. With over 1,380 citations, key publications include “Translating family systems care into neonatology practice” (International Journal of Nursing Studies, 2020), “Impact of a nurse-led family support intervention on family members’ satisfaction with intensive care” (Australian Critical Care, 2021), “A multicomponent family support intervention in intensive care units” (Trials, 2022), and “Nurse-Led Family Support Intervention for Families of Critically Ill Patients” (JAMA Internal Medicine, 2025). She has received the Best Oral Presentation Nursing 2022 award from the Swiss Society for Intensive Care Medicine for the FICUS trial and the 2023 Innovative Contribution to Family Nursing Award from the International Family Nursing Association.