myCSUSM
Education
- PhD, Nursing, Woltman Palliative Care Research Scholar, University of San Diego
- MSN, Executive Nurse Leadership, University of San Diego
- BSN, National University
Areas of Specialization/Interest
- Palliative and End of Life Care
- Interprofessional Education and Collaboration
- Community Health: Community-based care and public/population health
- Determinants of health and health disparities
Professional Bio
Katie Robinson, PhD, RN-BC, CHPN is an assistant professor in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services’ (CEHHS) School of Nursing (SON). Within the SON, she serves as the specialty lead for both community health and palliative care, overseeing the development and implementation of those areas in the nursing curriculum. Within CEHHS, she serves on the Interprofessional Education (IPE) Workgroup, co-developing and co-leading IPE efforts between CEHHS programs in partnership with the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care at CSUSM. As of Spring 2025, through generous funding from the Hearst Foundation, she is the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care's Faculty Director for IPE, overseeing efforts to expand IPE programming at CSUSM and Fresno State University.
Dr. Robinson has practiced in community-based nursing care since 2006, specializing in home-based hospice and palliative nursing since 2009. She has been board-certified as a hospice and palliative nurse since 2011. Dr. Robinson completed her Master of Nursing Science (MSN) in Executive Nurse Leadership (2018) and PhD in Nursing (Woltman Palliative Care Research Scholar; 2020) at the University of San Diego (USD). Her dissertation research examined the relationship between pain and spiritual distress for patients newly admitted to hospice.
Dr. Robinson’s research interests include early identification and assessment of palliative care needs by interprofessional palliative care teams, and better integration of interprofessional interventions for pain and symptom management. In partnership with UC San Diego Health’s palliative care department, her current research is focused on development of a spiritual distress risk screening instrument to prompt urgent referrals to chaplain and other interdisciplinary team members and initiate early comprehensive intervention for high-risk patients.
Dr. Robinson remains actively involved in the interprofessional palliative care community through involvement in various activities and organizations. These include hospice and palliative clinical education consulting; active maintenance of board certification; participation in exam development committees for the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center; scholarly and service activities with the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care and its partner CSU campuses; and long-standing membership in the Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association (HPNA) and the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (among other nursing organization memberships).
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