Chris Fortney
Research Interests
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
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Fortney CA. (Advances in Neonatal Care Guest Editor and Assistant Professor). (2020, March 2) NANNcast – Understanding Palliative Care. [Audio podcast]. https://nannast/podbean.com
News
New research shows that overall, the prevalence of adverse and positive childhood experiences reported by parents of teenagers hasn’t changed substantially in the United States in recent years.
The findings suggest that interventions designed to boost positive family experiences and shield children from negative experiences may not be hitting the mark on a national scale, the study’s authors say.
Read the Ohio State News story
The Ohio State University is investing $14 million into expanding one of its programs.
The university plans to nearly double undergraduate enrollment within the College of Nursing amid a nationwide nursing shortage.
“We need to answer that call, answer the calling to care and help people in the healthcare community,” said Dr. Wendy Bowles, Associate Dean for Baccalaureate Programs at Ohio State’s College of Nursing.
