Rita Pickler

Image
Rita Pickler portrait
First Name
Rita
Last Name
Pickler
Credentials
PhD, RN, FAAN
The FloAnn Sours Easton Professor of Child and Adolescent Health
Co-Director, T32 Training in the Science of Health Development
Address
200V Heminger Hall
Address (Line 2)
1577 Neil Avenue
City
Columbus
State
OH
Zip Code
43210

 

Dr. Rita Pickler’s educational and research background focuses on high-risk perinatology, neonatology and pediatrics. She has more than 30 years of research experience – including continuous NIH funding since 2001 – investigating preterm infant care and reduction of prematurity, NICU nursing care reliability, interventions to improve neurobehavioral outcomes, and long-term child and family well-being.

Dr. Pickler’s work has improved the care provided to preterm infants and their families and increased our understanding about what is needed in neonatal care to promote the best possible health outcomes for children who are born preterm. Her current research project focuses on enhancing opportunities for parent presence and participation in preterm care in the neonatal intensive care unit.

She is committed to improving maternal, child and family health outcomes by conducting well-designed and carefully-conducted research and by educating the next generation of nursing scientists. Dr. Pickler teaches and mentors PhD students and postdoctoral fellows about theory, philosophy of science, and research design and application. She has served as a sponsor on NIH-funded F31 awards and K-award mentor for emerging scientists.

This editor of the scientific journal Nursing Research earned her BS and MS in nursing from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro and her PhD in nursing from the University of Virginia. Her career honors for nursing science include: induction into the American Academy of Nursing (Fellow) and Sigma Theta Tau International Researcher Hall of Fame; Midwest Nursing Research Society Lifetime Achievement Award (2020); National Association of Neonatal Nurses Lifetime Achievement Award (2022); and University Distinguished Scholar from The Ohio State University (2022).

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Publications
Funded Research Grants
Honors
Professional Society Memberships

News

February 24, 2025

College ranks #12 overall and #1 among Big Ten and Ohio colleges of nursing

New rankings measuring National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding among colleges of nursing nationwide show that The Ohio State University College of Nursing maintained its strong national standing and leadership in nursing research.

February 10, 2025

Finding suggests need for education about tech's reliability

The use of fertility-tracking technology increased in some states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade despite warnings that reproduction-related data might not be secure, a new study has found.