Helen Gordon received her BSN from the University of Arkansas College of Nursing, her MS in Parent-Child Nursing and Nurse-Midwifery from the University of Utah, and her DNP from Case Western Reserve University in 2012.

Helen's entire career (38 years) has been in birth and women's health. Before coming to Duke in 2003, she managed a grant for the American College of Nurse-Midwives in Washington, DC. For five years she was the state’s first technical specialist in nurse-midwifery care for the NC Office of Rural Health, assisting in the implementation of CNM-MD practices in rural North Carolina. She was the first nursing director in the U.S. to implement LDRP care in a tertiary setting. Ms. Gordon also has extensive experience in the development of market-driven competitive women’s care services. She co-teaches the maternity nursing course and teaches senior seminar courses in the ABSN program. She has also served as lead faculty in community health.

Gordon received two teaching awards in 2011. She was selected by DUSON faculty to receive the Duke University School of Nursing Distinguished Teaching Award, and she received the DUSON Outstanding BSN Faculty Award from ABSN students. Gordon’s scholarly interests include the impact of nursing care on normal birth, how adults learn, and students’ transition to their first professional position.

Gordon currently serves as Faculty-in-Residence in Randolph dorm on Duke’s East Campus, where she and her lively fox terrier Cody reside with 182 coeds in the Class of 2015. Gordon is the first DUSON nurse to participate in this highly sought-after and uniquely rewarding Duke program. It is her mission to expose freshman students to a different perspective on nursing, and to encourage them to take advantage of all the incredible cultural opportunities offered by Duke.