About
Dr. Kristi Westphaln is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator for the Pediatric Advanced Practice Nursing Program at the University of California Los Angeles School of Nursing (SON). She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from California State University Los Angeles (2004), master’s degree in nursing from the UCLA SON (2008), and PhD in Nursing from the University of San Diego (2018). Dr. Westphaln then completed a 3-year transdisciplinary T32 postdoctoral fellowship with the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and additionally received a second master’s degree in clinical research (2021). Her program of research aims to improve outcomes for children that endure childhood abuse and/or neglect.
Areas of Scholarly Expertise & Interest
Child abuse and neglect, adverse childhood experiences, child welfare, social determinants of health, child protection teams, children’s advocacy centers, youth of immigrant origin, child rights
Clinical Expertise
With over 20 years of clinical experience as a pediatric nurse and pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP), Dr. Westphaln has cared for children and families across many diverse settings including the pediatric emergency department (Rady Children’s Hospital), the inpatient pediatric trauma surgery service (Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles), and outpatient pediatric primary care (Children’s Primary Care Medical Group of San Diego and the Rainbow Center for Women and Children in Cleveland, Ohio). She previously served on the child protection team with the Chadwick Center at Rady Children’s Hospital and currently works as a PNP with the Audrey Hepburn CARES team at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
Professional Activities
2021-current Editorial Board Member, Child Abuse and Neglect
2022-2024 Executive Board Member, Nicole Parker Foundation for Children
2023-2026 Member, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) National Research Committee
Honors & Awards
2023 Outstanding Nurse Practitioner of the Year, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) Los Angeles Chapter
Publications
Mason, DJ, Glickstein, B, & Westphaln, KK. (2018). Journalists’ experiences using nurses as sources in health news stories. American Journal of Nursing. 118(10):42-50.
Mason, DJ, Nixon, L, Glickstein, B, Han, S, Westphaln, KK, & Carter, L. (2018). The Woodhull Study Revisited: Nurses’ representation in health news media twenty years later. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 50(6):695-704.
Cohen, SS, Bishop-Josef, S, Fry-Bowers, EK, O’Neil, MK, & Westphaln, KK. (2019). Reframing Child Rights to Effect Policy Change. Nursing Outlook. 67(4):450-461.
Westphaln, KK, Regoeczi, WR, Masotya, M, Vazquez-Westphaln, B, Lounsbury, K, McDavid, L, Lee, H, Johnson, J, and Ronis, SD. (2021). Outcomes and outputs affiliated with Children’s Advocacy Centers. Child Abuse and Neglect. 111:104828.
Ronis, SD, Westphaln, KK, Kleinman, LC, Zyzanski, SJ, & Stange, KC. (2021). Performance of the person-centered primary care measure in pediatric continuity clinic. Academic Pediatrics. 21(6):1077-1083.
Westphaln, KK, Regoeczi, WR, Masotya, M, Vazquez-Westphaln, B, Lounsbury, K, McDavid, L, Lee, H, Johnson, J, and Ronis, SD. (2021). From Arksey and O’Malley and Beyond: Customizations to enhance a team-based, mixed approach to scoping review methodology. MethodsX. 8:101375.
Westphaln, KK, Fry-Bowers, EK, Birchfield, J, Lee, E, & Ronis, SD. (2022). Examining the relationship of Family Social Capital and Pediatric Primary Health Care Services. Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 36(4):347-357.
Westphaln, KK, Lee, E, Fry-Bowers, EK, Kleinman, LC, & Ronis, SD. (2022). Predictors associated with child flourishing despite adversity in the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health. Journal of Pediatric Nursing. 66:57-63.
Westphaln, KK, Manges, KA, Regoeczi, WR, Johnson, J, Ronis, SD, & Spilsbury, J. (2022). Facilitators and barriers to Children’s Advocacy Center-based teamwork. Child Abuse and Neglect. 131:105710.
Westphaln, KK, Imagawa, KK, Smith LE, Srivastava, J, & Pike, NA. (2023). Risk factors for abuse in children with congenital heart disease presenting at a pediatric tertiary care hospital. Congenital Heart Disease. 18(6):657-670.
Westphaln, KK, Pike, NA, Li, VR, Spurrier, R, & Imagawa, KK. (2024). Pediatric Hospital Admissions with Concern for Neglect: Correlations between Neglect Types and Other Clinical and Environmental Risk Factors. Maternal Child Health Journal. 10.1007/s10995-024-03936-0. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-024-03936-0