Dougherty Nursing Research Lab
The Nursing Research Lab in CCHEOR works to improve care for mothers, babies and children by ensuring patients receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care. A key focus is supporting nurses and frontline clinicians in identifying important questions about patient care and supporting research to improve outcomes.
The lab partners with teams across the hospital to develop and carry out research that addresses real-world patient and family needs. It is also part of a broader group of nurse scientists working together to strengthen nurse-led research and innovation at Nationwide Children's.
In addition to its work in the United States, the lab collaborates with global partners to improve care for small and sick newborns in resource-limited settings. Overall, the lab works with clinical teams to translate the best available medical knowledge into meaningful improvements in care and outcomes for children and families.
Inside Nursing Research Lab
Our Research
The Nursing Research Lab in the Center for Child Health Equity and Outcomes Research (CCHEOR) focuses on improving maternal, newborn and child health outcomes by strengthening how health systems deliver evidence-based care in real-world settings. The lab integrates implementation science and quality improvement to understand how care practices are adopted, adapted and sustained across diverse populations and health care environments.
A central focus of the lab is building clinical research capacity within health systems by supporting nurse-led research and frontline clinician engagement. The lab partners closely with clinical teams across Nationwide Children’s Hospital, including the Fetal Center, Neonatal Network and Health Justice Lab to co-develop and implement research that addresses pressing clinical and patient-centered priorities.
Importantly, this work is part of a broader and growing community of Nurse Scientists at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The Nursing Research Lab in CCHEOR collaborates with Nurse Scientists, Laura Beth Kalvas, PhD, RN, and Stephanie Hosley, DNP, APRN-CNP, as well as Nurse Scientist, Samantha Boch, PhD, RN, in the Health Justice Lab. Together, these partnerships strengthen a coordinated, hospital-wide approach to advancing nursing research, innovation and patient care.
The lab’s work spans both local and global contexts. Through collaborations such as the NEST360 Alliance, the Nursing Research Lab contributes to large-scale efforts to improve care for small and sick newborns in sub-Saharan Africa by supporting the implementation and scale-up of evidence-based interventions. In the United States, the lab also advances research on maternal and newborn health across diverse and underserved populations, with a focus on improving care pathways and outcomes for diverse populations.
Across all projects, the Nursing Research Lab in CCHEOR emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, stakeholder engagement and the translation of research into practice, working alongside a network of nurse scientists and clinical partners to drive meaningful, sustainable improvements in care delivery and outcomes for children and families.
Collaborate With Our Team
If you are interested in collaborating with the Nursing Research Lab, please email Kylie Dougherty at Kylie.Dougherty@NationwideChildrens.org.
Featured Research Projects
The Newborn Essential Solutions and Technologies (NEST360) initiative aims to reduce newborn mortality in hospital settings by improving access to and quality of care for small and sick newborns across sub-Saharan Africa.
NEST360 is a global partnership that strengthens hospital-based newborn care by deploying appropriate technologies, training health care workers and building sustainable systems to ensure reliable, high-quality care at scale. Within this partnership, the Nursing Research Lab supports a program of implementation research to understand how and why NEST360 works across diverse contexts. This includes developing and applying implementation models, conducting outcome evaluations to assess effectiveness and sustainability and co-creating open-access implementation resources, such as change packages, that translate evidence into practical, scalable strategies for improving small and sick newborn care.
This work is funded through the NEST360 Alliance with thanks to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Gates Foundation, ELMA Philanthropies, The Lemelson Foundation, Sall Family Foundation and the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation under agreements with William Marsh Rice University. This work is also funded by the UK Research and Innovation, Medical Research Council and the Paolo Chiesi Foundation.
The goal of this project is to improve maternal and perinatal health outcomes for justice-involved women, specifically adolescent females, by identifying evidence-based, equitable approaches to care, and strengthening the policies and systems that shape access to care.
This project uses a combination of evidence synthesis and systems-level analysis to better understand the needs of justice-involved adolescent females and identify opportunities for improvement. It includes examining existing research, reviewing current policies and practices and exploring alternative care approaches that promote health, stability and family well-being. Together, these efforts are designed to identify gaps, elevate promising strategies and inform future programs and policies that support more equitable and effective care. This work is conducted in close collaboration with the Health Justice Lab.
Strengthen the capacity of bedside nurses to engage in research in order to improve patient outcomes and advance nursing practice.
This project focuses on building the skills, confidence and infrastructure needed for bedside nurses to actively participate in research. It includes providing education and mentorship, developing accessible tools and resources and creating pathways for nurses to design, implement and disseminate projects. The work also aims to foster a supportive culture and strengthen partnerships across the hospital to ensure nurses have the guidance and systems needed to translate questions from practice into meaningful improvements in care. This project is co-led by all Nurse Scientists at Nationwide Children's, including Drs. Kalvas, Hosley and Boch.
The Nursing Research Lab has received funding from the Nationwide Children's Foundation for this project.
