Rate My Professor Deborah Harris

Professor Harris specializes in neonatal care, nurse practitioner workforce development, health services research, neonatal hypoglycaemia, neonatology, continuous glucose monitoring in newborn infants, perinatal research, randomised controlled trials, and observational clinical research. She led the landmark Sugar Babies Study, a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in The Lancet (2013), which established dextrose gel as an effective treatment for neonatal hypoglycaemia, revolutionizing global clinical guidelines, reducing mother-baby separations, and saving substantial healthcare costs. The Glucose in Well Babies (GLOW) Study further elucidated glucose concentrations in healthy term newborns over the first five days post-birth. Key recent publications include 'Holding complexity: Intuition, safety and kindness in neonatal care' (Nurse Education in Practice, 2026), 'Navigating the Pathway to Co-designed Nurse Practitioner Research in Aotearoa New Zealand' (Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 2026), 'Evolving roles and workforce trends among nurse practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand (2014-2022)' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2026), and 'Nurse practitioners in New Zealand: An integrative review of clinical practice and involvement in policy' (Collegian, 2025). She received the Prime Minister's Science Prize (2022) for her neonatal care work, and the Nurse Practitioners of New Zealand named an award for education and research in her honor.