Betty Ferrell, Ph.D., M.S.N., CHPN

Betty Ferrell, Ph.D., M.S.N., R.N., CHPN, FAAN, FPCN, has been in nursing for 45 years and has focused her clinical expertise and research in pain management, quality of life and palliative care. Dr. Ferrell is director of Nursing Research & Education and a professor at City of Hope in Duarte, California. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and she has over 480 publications in peer-reviewed journals and texts. She was principal investigator of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium project. She directs several other funded projects related to palliative care in cancer centers and quality-of-life issues. Dr. Ferrell was co-chairperson of the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care. Dr. Ferrell completed a master's degree in theology, ethics and culture from Claremont Graduate University in 2007. She has authored 11 books, including the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing (5th Edition, 2019) published by Oxford University Press. She is co-author of the text, "The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Nursing" published by Oxford University Press (2nd Ed, 2023) and "Making Health Care Whole: Integrating Spirituality into Patient Care" (Templeton Press, 2010). In 2013, Dr. Ferrell was named one of the "30 Visionaries" in the field by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. In 2019, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine. In 2021, Dr. Ferrell received the Oncology Nursing Society Lifetime Achievement Award, and she was inducted as a “Living Legend” by the American Academy of Nursing.

My research program includes areas of quality of life, pain management, and palliative care.  In the area of quality of life, we are currently exploring the quality of life for patients with cancer and their family caregivers. We are also evaluating quality of life concerns in both patients and their family caregivers as they participate in clinical trials. This project evaluates needs during active treatment and ways to best offer support.

In 2000, we launched the End of Life Nursing Education Consortium ((ELNEC) to provide evidence-based training in palliative care for nurses and other clinicians. This international project has now taught clinicians in all 50 US states, and 101 countries and reached 1.4 million clinicians to improve palliative care and QOL for patients and families.