gretchen Lawhon, PhD, RN, FAAN, Clinical Nurse Scientist and NIDCAP Master Trainer, taps on the amaizing power of a mother’s or father’s presence with their infant, and describes the role and importance of nurturance and the parent-infant relationship in a babyÕs growth and development.
gretchen Lawhon, PhD, RN, FAAN. Dr. gretchen Lawhon is a clinical nurse scientist who has worked in the arena of newborn intensive care for 40 years and has 44 years experience as a nurse. She was cofounder of the Newborn Individualized Developmental Assessment Program (NIDCAP) and co-investigator in several of the early research studies supporting an individualized developmentally supportive approach to care of infants and families in the newborn intensive care unit. Dr. LawhonÕs dissertation examined the Facilitation of Parenting within the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, from the University of Washington, School of Nursing.
Dr Lawhon worked as Neonatal Clinical Nurse Specialist for the U. S. Dept. of Education funded NICU Transition and NICU Follow-Through Projects, was involved in early intervention outreach and served as Co-Chair, Lucas County Ohio Early Intervention Collaborative Group and Vice-president and Board of Directors member of the Collaborative Network of Lucas County, Ohio Inc. Dr. Lawhon was co-investigator of the NINR funded Stability of Infant Responses to Painful Procedures study. While Director of the Mid-Atlantic Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (2005 Ð 2014), she was responsible for the clinical implementation of developmentally supportive care in the NICU by provision of NIDCAP observational assessments, APIB evaluations, participation in clinical rounds with an emphasis on the integration of developmentally supportive care, and consultation and collaboration with families in the NICU as well as the infant follow-up program.
Dr. Lawhon has served as Vice President (2001 Ð 2012), President (2012 Ð 2016), and a Director of the Board (2001 Ð 2018) for the NIDCAP Federation International. She is a Master NIDCAP Trainer currently guiding the development of the Japan National NIDCAP Center in development. Dr. Lawhon has extensive experience as a clinical nurse scientist and has authored numerous articles in her areas of expertise. Currently she is the Clinical Nurse Scientist with Newborn special care associates, pc at Abington Jefferson Health in Abington, Pennsylvania. Dr. Lawhon provides neurobehavioral evaluations of infants in the special care nursery and in the Abington Center for Newborn Wellness, a bridge clinic supporting infants and families transitioning from the hospital to home and community.
