Dorothy J. Wholihan

Faculty

Dorothy J Wholihan headshot

Dorothy J. Wholihan

DNP AGACNP-BC ACHPN FPCN FAAN

Clinical Professor
Program Director, Advanced Practice Palliative Care Specialty Sequence

1 212 992 9429

433 First Ave
New York, NY 10010
United States

Dorothy J. Wholihan, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, ACHPN, FPCN, FAAN, is a Clinical Professor of Nursing and the Director of the Advanced Practice Palliative Care Specialty Program at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She is a palliative care nurse practitioner with over 40 years of nursing experience dedicated to the care of persons with advanced illness and their families. She has held prior positions as an oncology and pain management clinical nurse specialist. She maintains an active clinical practice as a nurse practitioner in palliative care within the Veterans Health Administration, where she has cared for seriously ill veterans since 1989.

Recognized as a national leader in palliative care nursing education, Prof. Dorothy has served more than 15 years as national faculty for the ELNEC program (End of Life Nursing Education Consortium) and currently leads the ELNEC Geriatric course. She was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 2019 and serves on the End-of-Life Expert Panel. She is also an active member of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association and is a Fellow of Palliative Care Nursing.

Her palliative care practice and research interests include spiritual aspects of care, communication education, and the care of veterans at end of life.

DNP, George Washington University
Post-Master's Certificate in Christian Specialty, General Theological Seminary
Post-Master's Certificate in ANP - Uniformed Services, University of the Health Sciences
MSN, Yale University
BSN, University of Pennsylvania

Palliative care
Pain Management

American Academy of Nursing
American Association of Nurse Practitioners
American Nurses Association
Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association
National Faculty Member, End of Life Nursing Education Consortium
Sigma Theta Tau

University Distinguished Teaching Award, NYU (2020)
Distinguished Teaching Award, NYU Meyers (2019)
Fellow, American Academy of Nursing
Fellow, Hartford Institute of Geriatric Nursing
Fellow, Palliative Care Nursing

 Integrating palliative care into primary care

Wholihan, D. J., Gorman, R., & Romanelli, S. (2023). In Textbook of Advanced Palliative Nursing.
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Outcomes of a National Training Curriculum to Advance Generalist Level Palliative Care

Ferrell, B. R., Paice, J. A., Coyne, P. J., Economou, D., Thaxton, C. A., Wholihan, D. J., Battista, V., & Haskamp, A. (2023). In Journal of palliative medicine (Vols. 26, Issues 2, pp. 228-234). 10.1089/jpm.2022.0262
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Background: The adoption of palliative care as an integral component of health care has led to the need for generalist level providers, especially important in serious illnesses such as cancer. Objectives: The goals of this National Cancer Institute-funded training program were to (1) identify the eight domains of quality palliative care applied to oncology practice, (2) demonstrate skills for oncology advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) in the domains of palliative care, and (3) develop goals for implementing the skills training in practice through process improvement, staff education, and clinical care. Design: The training program led by the End of Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project included oncology APRNs in a three-day training course with one-year follow-up for ongoing support and to assess impact. Settings: Five training courses included 430 APRNs from 46 U.S states including both pediatric and adult oncology settings. The project included 25% minority participants. Measurement: Measures included participant goal implementation, course evaluations, and surveys to assess implementation and palliative care practices (precourse, 6 and 12 months postcourse). Results: The ELNEC oncology APRN training course resulted in changes in practice across domains, improved perceived effectiveness in clinical practice, and valuable insight regarding the challenges in generalist level palliative care implementation. Conclusion: The ELNEC oncology APRN course serves as a model for the palliative care field to advance generalist level practice. Future training efforts can build on this project to reach more oncology professionals and those in other areas of serious illness care.

*Impact of co-occurring cancer-related and malignant fungating wound-specific symptoms on functional performance among patients with advanced cancer:  An exploratory multi-methods study. Journal of Palliative Medicine.

Tilley, C. P., Yu, G., Comfort, C., Fu, M., & Wholihan, D. J. (2022). In Journal of Palliative Medicine.
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.Outcomes of a National Training  Curriculum to Advance Generalist Level Palliative Care. 

Ferrell, B. R., Paice, J. A., Economou, D., Coyne, P., Thaxton, C., Wholihan, D. J., Battista, V., & Haskamp, A. (2022). In Journal of Palliative Medicine.
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 Curricular quality improvement in midwifery: Simulating unexpected perinatal loss.

Wholihan, D. J., Altman, S., Tilley, C., Friedman, R., & Brennan, M. (2022). In Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health.
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Curricular quality improvement in midwifery: Simulating unexpected perinatal loss. 
                       

Altman, S., Tilley, C., Feldman, R., Brennan, M., & Wholihan, D. J. (2022). In Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health: Vol. In press.
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Decision making in frail patients at risk of postoperative delirium : A case study and literature review

English-Cremeans, M. K., Wholihan, D. J., Olson, E., Zhu, C., & Ko, F. C. (2022). In Geriatric Nursing. 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2022.05.009
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Preoperative frailty is strongly associated with risks of postoperative delirium. However, gaps exist in targeted recommendations for clinical decision making related to surgical interventions in frail older patients. A case study is presented involving a frail 74-year-old referred to the palliative care team for assistance with clinical decision making and in weighing risks and benefits of a surgical intervention. A literature review on the quantification of postoperative delirium risk and how this information might inform medical decision making in frail surgical patients did not identify clear clinical guidelines. In the absence of practice guidelines, the Patient Priorities Care model is proposed as a framework to help providers working with patients and caregivers facing complex medical decisions to better align interventions with patient values.

Energy surge: A deathbed phenomenon that matters

Juliao, M., Wholihan, D. J., & Claveiros, P. (2022). In Palliative and Supportive Care.
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 Fundamental skills and education

Wholihan, D. J., Tilley, C. P., & Rudden, A. (2022). In Textbook of Advanced Practice Palliative Nursing. Oxford University Press.
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Integrating palliative care into primary care. 

Wholihan, D. J., Gorman, R., & Bender, S. (2022). In Textbook of Advanced Practice Palliative Nursing. Oxford University Press.
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