Karen Kavanaugh, PhD, RN
Dr. Kavanaugh is an associate professor in the Department of Maternal-Child Nursing.
She joined the UIC faculty in 1991.
Teaching. Dr. Kavanaugh is a faculty member in the Perinatal Clinical Nurse
Specialist graduate sequence. She teaches Nursing Inquiry I and Advanced Parent-Infant
Nursing for graduate students. She regularly lectures on perinatal loss,
phenomenological research, quality of life and follow-up for the very low birthweight
infant, palliative and end of life care, and qualitative methods for undergraduate and
graduate students. In 2001, Dr. Kavanaugh received the Graduate Faculty Excellence
Award.
Service. Dr. Kavanaugh is a nationally recognized researcher in perinatal loss.
She recently authored AWHONN's (Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and
Neonatal Nursing) practice guideline for perinatal loss, is an editorial board
member/manuscript reviewer for The Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing, MCN,
The American Journal of Maternal-Child Nursing, and Qualitative Health Research, and
is a member of AWHONN’s Research Committee. Dr. Kavanaugh was recently selected
to be in the Nursing Leadership Academy for Palliative and End of Life Care that is
sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Nursing. Dr. Kavanaugh is also a
longstanding board member of the Alliance of Perinatal Bereavement Facilitators. Within
UIMC, Dr. Kavanaugh is a member of the Perinatal Loss Committee.
Research. Dr. Kavanaugh has conducted several studies that examine the
experience of parenting in various high-risk situations: breast feeding a premature infant,
receiving a prenatal tour of the neonatal intensive care unit during a high-risk pregnancy,
and perinatal loss. Her research has identified the responses and needs of parents in these
situations. Currently, Dr. Kavanaugh is conducting a federally funded study to investigate
the experience of perinatal loss in low-income, African American parents. Findings from
this study will provide insight into the experiences and needs of low-income, African
American parents, which is necessary for providing individualized care in the hospital
and after discharge. Dr. Kavanaugh is beginning a study to examine life support
decisions, including decisions for end of life care, for extremely premature infants. Dr.
Kavanaugh has also collaborated with Dr. Engstrom in research on the reliability and
validity of anthropometric measurements of newborn infants. She is also collaborating
with Drs. Dallas, Norr, Dancy, and Cassata on a study to examine the role of adolescent
fatherhood in low-income, African American adolescent families.