The 44th Alexander Ming Fisher Lecture

Dr. Betty Ferrell 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 the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, California. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Ferrell has published over 480 articles in peer-reviewed journals and texts. She is principal investigator of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium project and directs several other funded projects related to palliative care in cancer centers and quality of life issues. Dr. Ferrell was co-chair of the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care.  

Dr. Ferrell earned a master’s degree in theology, ethics and culture from Claremont Graduate University. 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 textbook “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). 

Among her many honors, Dr. Ferrell was named one of the 30 visionaries in the field by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, received the Oncology Nursing Society Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted as a “Living Legend” by the American Academy of Nursing.