Alison Cress, APRN, FNP-BC

I serve as an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) specializing in palliative care. Many fear that palliative care is synonymous with hospice. While we work closely with outside hospices for families ready for that step, our inpatient palliative care team at Cincinnati Children’s is heavily concerned with comfort and quality of life, even while patients and families continue to seek disease-modifying (or curative) therapies. When the Palliative Care Team is consulted, it does not mean that we are "giving up" on you or your child. We know you deserve the best care possible, and palliative interventions can ease many of the journey's difficult symptoms.

My son was critically ill at birth, opening my eyes to the need for whole-family care. He inspired me to work with families who experience long inpatient stays and need holistic care. I firmly believe that without vision, we perish. Although goals may change during treatment, they deserve constant re-evaluation as they have the power to move us forward. Serving others in this process is my passion.

Using a person-centered outcomes framework, I aim to find the best balance between compassionate care and modern science. I accomplish this by offering space for open discussions with patients and families regarding their goals and finding ways to achieve those goals while keeping quality of life at the forefront. Being present in some of their most difficult moments and loving them through their journey is one of my greatest honors.

I’m also involved in research. Many young women find themselves in a position of psychological distress when diagnosed with a serious gynecologic malignancy. Not only is the diagnosis itself quite scary, but these ladies must also face the loss of many attributes that are inherently female—such as their hair, their ability to have children, and possibly their reproductive organs altogether. Most will also face disturbances in their normal development, including delays in schooling/graduation, transitioning into college or career, relationships and mothering their children. As a medical community, we often focus on curing the disease. Meanwhile, distress and complicated grief can lead to many other complications, including inactivity, malnutrition, anxiety, depression and disproportionate pain. This is where my interest lies.

Luckily, here at Cincinnati Children’s, we have a fantastic group of psychology professionals with whom we collaborate often. However, palliative care teams nationwide are rarely staffed with a psychiatrist or psychologist to assess and treat these critical issues. Therefore, my research focuses on the need for pediatric palliative care learning through transdisciplinary knowledge-sharing. I hope to create convenient continuing education via online learning opportunities tailored to mid-career pediatric palliative professionals to support the management of co-morbid psychological distress in adolescent and young adult females with a life-limiting gynecologic illness.

I was grateful to be added to the Honor Roll in all my college programs, including my current Palliative Care PhD program. I was recently named Outstanding Author of 2024 in the Annals of Palliative Medicine journal for a published scoping review.

When I’m not at work, kayaking is my favorite activity, though I'm not very good at it. I also raise chickens and two small “horses” (Great Danes). I love to watch my husband, Dan, and our three kiddos play music. The work that I do, and thus our family team does, is emotionally taxing. It constantly reminds us of how precious our short time on this earth really is. Therefore, we follow the same guidance I give to sick patients and their families: strive to keep short-term and long-term goals ahead of us at all times. Conquering new rough terrain on our dual-sport motorcycles and eating our way through the best southern diners are just a few of the goals that keep us moving forward.