Kristine A. Karlsen PhD, APRN, NNP-BC, FAAN
Neonatal Nurse Practitioner – Board Certified
S.T.A.B.L.E. Program Author and Founder, Program Director
Park City, Utah USA
Kristine Antonelli Karlsen, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC, FAAN, is a neonatal nurse practitioner with more than 40 years of experience in neonatal transport, education, simulation, and intensive care. She is the award-winning author and founder of the internationally recognized S.T.A.B.L.E. Program, the most widely distributed neonatal stabilization curriculum in the world. Dr. Karlsen serves as Program Director for S.T.A.B.L.E., overseeing all instructor-training curricula, course development, and global program implementation.
Dr. Karlsen recently retired from the Intermountain Healthcare neonatal intensive care units in Utah, where the latter part of her career focused on caring for critically ill infants with complex congenital heart disease. She also co-facilitated neonatal simulation education at Primary Children’s Hospital, including NICU and ECMO/PICU-NICU team simulations, and the NNP procedural skills laboratories.
Dr. Karlsen earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Utah. Her dissertation, A National Survey to Describe the Workforce of Neonatal Transport in the U.S., received the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Transport Medicine Best Training Paper Award and has been widely cited in the neonatal transport literature. Publication: Karlsen KA, Trautman M, Price-Douglas W, & Smith S. (2011). National survey of neonatal transport teams in the United States. Pediatrics, 128(4), 685–691.
A lifelong educator, Dr. Karlsen is dedicated to ensuring that all S.T.A.B.L.E. Program curricula remain aligned with current evidence. She collaborates regularly with leading neonatal and obstetric experts and is known for her ability to teach and explain complex physiology and concepts in an understandable, practical, and clinically relevant way.
Dr. Karlsen served for many years on the Utah Perinatal Mortality and Out-of-Hospital Birth committees and has been recognized with numerous awards that are listed below. Today, Dr. Karlsen continues to share her passion for neonatal stabilization through national and international conference presentations and through her ongoing leadership of the S.T.A.B.L.E. Program.
Dr. Kristine Karlsen – Honors and Awards
2025 National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) Lifetime Achievement in Neonatal Nursing Award
2019 Fellow, American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) for Domestic and International Impact of The S.T.A.B.L.E. Program on Neonatal Care
2014 The National Perinatal Association, The Individual Contribution to Maternal & Child Health at the National and International Level
2010 National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners NNP Excellence Award.
2007 “Best Paper in Training” Award; American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Transport Medicine For Dissertation – “A National Survey to Describe the Workforce of Neonatal Transport in the U.S.”
2006 Thai Physicians Association of America Appreciation Award for Educational Excellence
2005 Outstanding Doctoral Student 2005, College of Nursing, University of Utah
2004 March of Dimes Leadership in Healthcare Nurse Award
2004 First Place winner S.T.A.B.L.E. – Cardiac module from the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Medical Book Awards
2003 Thai Physicians Association of America Appreciation Award for Educational Excellence
2003 AWHONN & Johnson/Johnson 2003 Childbirth Educators Award
1995 Best Poster Award, American Academy of Pediatrics, District VIII, 20th Annual Conference on Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine, Snowbird, UT, for Karlsen,KA (1995). A mnemonic approach to neonatal stabilization: Transporting newborns the S.T.A.B.L.E. Way.
1993 Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing – Gamma Rho Chapter
1984 March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation Award for Distinguished Volunteer Leadership in the Fight Against Birth Defects