Chris Fortney
PhD, RN, FPCN, FAAN
Associate Professor
Director, Undergraduate Honors Program
Biography
Dr. Chris Fortney's research focuses on the experiences of critically ill infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and their families. Dr. Fortney uses descriptive data, behavioral observations, qualitative interviews, and prospective, longitudinal designs to investigate infant symptoms and suffering trajectories, and their effect on parent satisfaction, decision-making, distress and coping, and changes in care goals. Notably, she uncovered challenges in assessing and managing symptoms for NICU infants with life-threatening or life-limiting conditions. She developed a framework to assess the quality of the neonatal death experience and published pioneering patient-reported symptom data in this population. She has also explored nurse distress when caring for critically ill infants and collaborated with a bilingual community advisory board to transcreate research materials from English to Spanish. Currently, Dr. Fortney is investigating the impact of social determinants of health on nurse-parent communication regarding infant symptom assessment and management. She received her master’s and doctorate in Nursing from The Ohio State University and completed the Pediatric Patient-Centered Outcomes (PC-Prep) postdoctoral fellowship in the Center for Biobehavioral Health at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Podcasts
Fortney CA. (Advances in Neonatal Care Guest Editor and Assistant Professor). (2020, March 2) NANNcast – Understanding Palliative Care. [Audio podcast]. https://nannast/podbean.com
- Fortney CA & Ulloa JA. Palliative care for infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. In Respiratory Symptoms, What Do I Do Now: Palliative Care series (ed. Margaret L. Campbell) (2023). United States: Oxford University Press, Incorporated.
- Gerhardt, C.A., Baughcum, A. E., Fortney, C., & Lichtenthal, W. Chapter 15, Palliative Care, End of Life, and Bereavement, Handbook of Pediatric Psychology (5th Edition), 2016.
- 2021-present Section Editor, Ethics and Equity in Neonatal Care, Advances in Neonatal Care
- 2020-present Board Member, Advances in Neonatal Care
- 11/2024 - Fellow, American Academy of Nursing
- 3/2023 - Fellow in Palliative Care Nursing. Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association
- 3/2022 - Outstanding Publication Award, Palliative and End of Life Care Research & Implementation Interest Group, Midwest Nursing Research Society
- 3/2022 - Outstanding Publication Award, Symptom Science Research & Implementation Interest Group, Midwest Nursing Research Society
- 5/2021 - Outstanding Evidence-based Practitioner Award, College of Nursing, The Ohio State University
- 5/2021 - Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award, Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry, The Ohio State University
- 4/2019 - Outstanding Leadership/Transformer Award, College of Nursing, The Ohio State University
- 3/2019 - New Investigator Award, Palliative and End of Life Care Research Interest Group, Midwest Nursing Research Society
- 3/2019 - New Investigator Award, Symptom Science Research Interest Group, Midwest Nursing Research Society
- 5/2015 -2015 HPNA Research Scholar, Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association
- 2021-present Network of Pediatric Palliative Care Educators (NPPCE)
- 2017-present Pediatric Palliative Research Special Interest Group, Children’s National Hospital
- 2014-present National Association of Neonatal Nurses
- 2013-present Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA)
- 2012-present Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS)
- 2002-present Sigma Theta Tau International, Inc., Epsilon Chapter