Rita Pickler
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).
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.
