Heather L. Tubbs Cooley

Dr. Heather Tubbs Cooley is an expert in pediatric and perinatal health care quality and patient safety, with a research program focused on the care delivery mechanisms linking the organization and financing of nursing services with patient outcomes. Incorporating theoretical frameworks and methods from health services research, psychology and systems engineering, she studies clinician workload, staffing resources and dynamics, and other organizational factors that affect the reliable delivery of high-quality nursing care. Her work spans pediatric populations and settings including general inpatient and home-based pediatric care and neonatal intensive care environments and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
Dr. Tubbs Cooley began her clinical career as a pediatric medical-surgical nurse and has worked in pediatric inpatient and private duty settings. She has extensive experience as a clinician and scientist in top children’s hospitals and currently is a principal investigator in the Center for Perinatal Research at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Tubbs Cooley teaches and advises across the undergraduate and graduate curriculums. She is an ardent supporter of students from underrepresented backgrounds and welcomes both students and post-doctoral research Fellows into her lab.
Education
- Post-doctoral Fellowship, Quality Improvement & Implementation Science, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
- PhD, Nursing, University of Pennsylvania
- BS, Nursing, Western Michigan University
News
College of Nursing home is first building at Ohio State to earn designation
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has awarded The Ohio State University College of Nursing’s Jane E. Heminger Hall WELL Gold Certification for its construction and design features that promote and support health and well-being. It is the first building at Ohio State to earn this designation.
Joni Tornwall, clinical professor, College of Nursing, has been awarded a 2025-2026 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to teach student-centered nursing practices at Kyrgyz State Medical Academy.