Principles of Pediatric Nursing: Caring for Children, 8th edition

About our authors

Jane W. Ball graduated from The Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Nursing, and subsequently received a BS from The Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Public Health and Doctor of Public Health degrees from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus on maternal and child health. She practiced as a pediatric nurse and pediatric nurse practitioner in the surgical, emergency and outpatient units of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She served as the chief of child health services for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health and as faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing. She is the author of multiple textbooks, including Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination, Principles of Pediatric Nursing, Child Health Nursing and Pediatric Emergencies: A Manual for Prehospital Providers. She served as the executive director of the federally funded Emergency Medical Services for Children National Resource Center for 15 years, providing consultation and resource development for state health agencies, health professionals, families and advocates to improve the emergency healthcare system for children. Dr. Ball is a consultant for the American College of Surgeons, supporting the development of best practice guidelines for the Committee on Trauma. She is currently Vice President for Nursing and Content Development for Triaj, Inc., a company that recently launched a mobile app called Triaj to guide nurses and physicians in the care of children with injuries from resuscitation through hospital discharge.

Ruth C. McGillis Bindler received her BSN from Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing in New York. She worked in oncology nursing at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and then as a public health nurse in Dane County, Wisconsin. This began her commitment to working with children as she visited children and their families at home and served as a school nurse for several elementary, middle and high schools. She received an MS degree in child development from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A move to Washington State was accompanied by a new job as a faculty member at the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education in Spokane, now the Washington State University College of Nursing. She received a PhD in Human Nutrition from Washington State University (WSU). Dr. Bindler feels fortunate to have been a faculty member for 38 years, teaching theory and clinical courses in child health nursing, cultural diversity, graduate research, pharmacology and physical assessment. She served as lead faculty for child health nursing; was the first director of the PhD in Nursing program at WSU; and was Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, which included Master of Nursing, Post-Master’s certificates, PhD and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. She is now retired from this position and continues to serve the College and profession as Professor Emeritus, working with graduate students to facilitate their research agendas. Her first professional book, Pediatric Medications, was published in 1981, and she has continued to publish pediatric textbooks and professional articles with nutrition and research foci. Her research concentrated on childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors in children. In addition to teaching, research, publication and leadership, Dr. Bindler is engaged in professional and community activities, and enjoys outdoor adventures with family and friends.

Kay Cowen received her BSN degree from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and began her career as a staff nurse on the pediatric unit of North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem. She developed a special interest in the psychosocial needs of hospitalized children and preparing them for hospitalization. This led to the focus of her master’s thesis at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where she received a Master of Science in Nursing Education degree with a focus in maternal child nursing. Ms. Cowen began her teaching career in 1984 at UNCG, where she continues today as clinical professor. Her primary responsibilities include coordination of the pediatric nursing course, teaching classroom content, and supervising a clinical group of students. Ms. Cowen shared her passion for the psychosocial care of children and the needs of their families through her first experience as an author of the chapter “Hospital Care for Children” in Child Health Nursing: A Comprehensive Approach to the Care of Children and Their Families, published in 1993. In the classroom Ms. Cowen realized that students learn through a variety of teaching strategies, and she became especially interested in the strategy of gaming. She led a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of gaming in the classroom and subsequently continues to incorporate gaming into her teaching. Ms. Cowen’s most recent research focused on the concerns and expectations of nursing students in clinical courses. In the clinical setting, Ms. Cowen teaches her students the skills needed to care for patients and the importance of family-centered care, focusing on not only the physical needs of the child but also the psychosocial needs of the child and family. During her teaching career, Ms. Cowen has continued to work part time as a staff nurse, first on the pediatric unit of Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro and then at Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston Salem. In 2006 she became the part-time pediatric nurse educator in Brenner Children’s Hospital. Through this role she is able to extend her love of teaching to children and families. Through her role as an author, Ms. Cowen is able to extend her dedication to pediatric nursing and nursing education.

Laura M. Wisely received her BSN degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a nursing student, Ms. Wisely was able to study nursing abroad in London, England and Managua, Nicaragua. After graduation, she began her career as a nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Her love of caring for children in their most vulnerable state inspired her to explore health and wellness outcomes and policy of children, particularly injury prevention. She completed an MSN degree with a focus in public health from The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She also earned a Master of Public Health from The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health with a certification in Injury Prevention. Ms. Wisely began teaching nursing students during their pediatric clinical rotations at The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and realized she loved to teach about the care of children. She currently works in nursing education as a clinical instructor in the Emergency Medicine and Trauma Center at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. Ms. Wisely is honored to be part of the team who have created this book, and hopes that it lays the foundation for nurses who choose to care for children.

Robin M. Dawson completed her BSN and MSN-PNP at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also holds a graduate certificate in women’s and gender studies and a PhD in nursing science from the University of South Carolina (UofSC). Her clinical background includes hospital-based nursing in pediatric surgery and neonatal intensive care, as well as over 20 years in pediatric primary care advanced practice nursing. She currently serves as Associate Professor at the UofSC College of Nursing and director of the Smart Start Nursing Program, the undergraduate nursing honors program. Dr. Dawson sees academic teaching as a natural extension of her practice career, in which she can apply her clinical expertise to strategies and activities that enhance student experience and knowledge attainment. She is also committed to fostering a passion for research at all levels, from undergraduate to doctoral. Her multi-level program of research focuses on understanding the context and processes of communication and the development of practical and innovative interventions designed to facilitate optimal patient-provider communication. She uses the intersection of rurality and childhood asthma to explore three specific areas of patient-provider communication research: language discordance, technology-based interventions and healthcare provider communication skills. Dr. Dawson volunteers in a variety of community-based organizations and enjoys spending her free time with her four wonderful children.