Biography

I have been an oncology nurse at the Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) for almost 30 years. I was an oncology staff nurse for 10 years and am presently the nurse director of the inpatient Hematology/Oncology/Stem Cell Transplant program at Children's Hospital Boston and the outpatient Jimmy Fund Clinic at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I've also worked to develop the DF/CHCC Oncology Community Outreach Program that involves the Back to School Program, a Hospital to Home visit from a dedicated DF/CHCC staff nurse visiting all eligible newly diagnosed patients and community education to homecare agencies. During the last few years I have been involved in global health and am the nurse advisor and educator to the Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt and National Guard Hospital in Saudi Arabia. Most recently I am participating in the DFCI/ Partners in Health oncology education and training efforts in Rwanda.

Background

Education and Training
Laboure College, Associate in Science and Nursing, 1984
Stonehill College, BA, 1977
Simmons College, MS, Healthcare Administration, 2004
St. Joseph's College, Masters in Nursing Education, 2011

Awards

• MVP Award, Alex's Team Foundation, 2007
• Patrick Faolan McDonogh Appreciation Award, 2006
• Massachusetts Soceity of Health-System Pharmacists Award, 2003

Select Publications

• Houlahan, K. (1991) “School Reentry Program” Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing 1991 8(2):70-71
• Marino B, P. Branowicki, J. Bennett, K. Houlahan, J. O’Neill, J. Dwyer, A. Billett (2002) “Evaluating Process Changes in a Pediatric Hospital Medication System” Outcomes Management 2002, Vol. 6, No.1
• Branowicki P, Billett A, O’Neill J., Houlahan, K (April 2003). “ Improving Complex Medical Systems: An Interdisciplinary Approach” Journal of Nursing Administration (JONA).
• Houlahan K, Kieran M. (2004) Gene Therapy. In Pediatric Oncology Nursing Advanced Clinical Textbook, Tomilson and Kline, Springer Publishing Company.
• Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses (2004). The Pediatric Chemotherapy and Biotherapy Curriculum. Content reviewer: for Principles of Biotherapy and Ethical and Legal Considerations Chapters.
• Houlahan K, (2004). “ Subcutaneous Insulin Administration and Patient Safety” Children's Hospital, Boston Medicine Patients Services Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 4
• Houlahan, K., Branowicki, P et al. (2006). “Can End of Life Care (EOL) for the Pediatric Patient Suffering with Escalating and Intractable Symptoms Be Improved?” Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 23 (1), 45-50.
• Harney,K., Branowicki, P., Neufeld, E., McCabe, M., Houlahan, K., Sporing, E. (2008). Clinical Impact of An Anticoagulation Screening Service at a Pediatric Tertiary Care Facility. Journal of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
• Houlahan K., Branowicki P., (2009). The Care of the Pediatric Oncology Patient in the Home. In Pediatric Home Care (3^rd ed). Votroubek and Tabacco, Jones and Bartlett
• Branowicki P, Houlahan K, Conley S., (2009). Nursing Care of Childhood Cancer Patients. Hematology and Oncology of Infancy and Childhood. Nathan and Oski, Elsevier Science Health Science, 6^th Edition.
• Adrienne G. Randolph MD, MSc ; Chau M. Tran, MPH ; Hongyu Jiang, PhD; Andrea Colon, RN; Kathleen Houlahan, RN, MSN, MHA ; Amy Billett, MD; Steven Sloan, MD; Leslie E. Lehmann, MD (in press 2011). Impact of a Conservative Red Blood Cell Transfusion Strategy in Children Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation Journal
• Kathleen E Walsh, MD, MSc, Doug Roblin, Saul N. Weingart, MD, PhD, Kathleen Houlahan MS, MHA, RN, Barbara Degar,Amy Billett, Christopher Keuker, MD, Colleen Biggins, Justin Li, Karen Wasilewski, MD, Kathleen M. Mazor, EdD, MS (October 2011). Medication Errors in the Home: A Multisite Study of Children with Cancer Submitted to Journal of the American Medical Association request for publication.