QSEN Profile - Mary A. Blegen

Mary A. Blegen, RN, PhD, FAAN

Professor and Director of the Center for Patient Safety
 University of California San Francisco, School of Nursing
San Francisco, CA

Program Experience

ADN, BSN, MA, PHD

Competency Expertise

Patient-centered Care, Teamwork and Collaboration, Safety

Teaching Expertise

Classroom; Skills/Simulation Labs, Clinical Teaching

Research Expertise

Research has focused mostly on the relationship between nurse staffing and the quality and safety of patient care in hospitals.  Additional areas include the safety and quality of nursing care in nursing homes; the influence of multi-disciplinary collaboration and teamwork on patient safety; working conditions on medication safety and reporting of adverse events;

Publications and Presentations

Blegen, M. A., & Vaughn, T. (1998). A multisite study of nurse staffing and patient occurrences. Nursing Economic$, 16(4), 196-203.

Blegen, M. A., Goode, C. J., & Reed, L. (1998). Nurse staffing and patient outcomes. Nursing Research, 47(1), 43-50.

Reed, L., Blegen, M. A., & Goode, C. J. (1998) Adverse patient occurrences as a measure of nursing care quality. Journal of Nursing Administration, 28(5) 62-69.

Wakefield, B., Wakefield, D., Uden-Holman, T., & Blegen, M. A. (1998). Nurses’ perceptions of why medication administration errors occur. MedSurg Nursing, 7(1), 39-44.

Wakefield, D., Wakefield, B., Uden-Holman, T., Borders, T., Blegen, M. A., & Vaughn, T. (1999). Understanding and comparing differences in reported medication administration error rates. American Journal of Medical Quality, 14(2), 73-80.

Wakefield, D., Wakefield, B., Uden-Holman, T., Borders, T., Blegen, M. A., & Vaughn, T. (1999). Understanding why medication administration errors may not be reported. American Journal of Medical Quality, 14(2), 81-88. 

Blegen, M. A. (2001, spring). Health care challenges beyond 2001:  Nurse staffing for the quality of care.  Communicating Nursing Research, 34, 3-16.

Blegen, M. A., Vaughn, T., & Goode, C. J. (2001). Nurse experience and education: Effect on quality of care. Journal of Nursing Administration, 31(1), 33-39

Wakefield, B., Blegen, M., Uden-Holman, T., Vaughn, T., Chrischilles, E., & Wakefield, D. (2001). Organizational culture, continuous quality improvement and medication administration error reporting. American Journal of Medical Quality, 16(4), 128-134.

Blegen, M.A., Vaughn, T., Pepper, G., Vojir, C., Stratton, D., Boyd, M., & Armstrong, G. (2004). Patient and staff safety: Voluntary reporting. American Journal of Medical Quality, 19 (2), 67-74.

Stratton, K.M., Blegen, MA, Pepper, G. and Vaughn, T. (2005). Reporting of Medication Errors by Pediatric Nurses. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 19, 385-392. 

Blegen, M.A., Pepper, G.A., & Rosse, J.  (2005).  Safety climate on hospital units: A new measure.  Advances in Patient Safety: From Research to Implementation, Agency for Health Research and Quality, Vol 4, pgs 429-443.

Blegen, M.A.  (2006). Patient safety in hospital acute care units.  Annual Review of Nursing Research, Vol 24. 103-125.

Carlton, G. & Blegen, M.A. (2006).  Medication related errors: A literature review of incidence and antecedents.  Annual Review of Nursing Research, Vol 24. 19-38.

Blegen, M.A. & Pepper, G.A. (2006).  Cups of error.  AHRQ Web M&M (online journal: http;/webmm.agrq.gov).  May 2006. 

Blegen, M.A.  (2006). Safety of healthcare: An amazing possibility. Nursing Research, 55 (5), 199. 

Blegen, M.A. Vaughn, T., & Vojir, C.  (2008).  Nurse staffing levels: Impact of organizational characteristics and RN supply. Health Services Research, 43(1), 154-173.

Blegen, M.A.  (2008). Knowledge from quality improvement activities? Nursing Research, 57 (1), 1.

Sehgal, N, Fox, M., Vidyarthi, A., Sharpe, B., Gearhart, S., Alldredge, B., Blegen, M., Barker; J., & Wachter, B. (2008) A multidisciplinary teamwork training program: the Triad for Optimal Patient Safety (TOPS). Journal of General Internal Medicine. 12, 2053-57

Blegen, M.A.  (2008). Gratitude with Skepticism Nursing Research, 57 (6), 373.

Kendall-Gallagher, D. & Blegen, MA.  (2009).  Registered Nurse Competence, Certification, and Patient Safety in the Intensive Care Unit.  American Journal of Critical Care, 18 (2) 106-113.  

Related Funding

2009-2011         Senior Scholar.  VA Quality Scholars Program.  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  $40,000.

2009-2010         Principal Investigator.  Laguna Honda:  Organization Change – impact on resident quality and safety of care.  Laguna Honda Hospital foundation, $84,000.

2008-2009         Principal Investigator: Impact of Patient Safety Initiatives on Nursing Workload, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, $49.000. 

2008-2009         Principal Investigator: Impact of Patient Safety Initiatives on Nursing Workload, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, $40,000.

2008-2009         Research Advisor.  The Tipping Point: hospital capacity and quality.  Bruce Spurlock PI, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

2007-2009         Co-Principal Investigator.  Independent RN double checks to improve medication safety.  Maureen Buick Principal Investigator.  Collaborative Clinical Research Initiative (UCSF Med Center).  $10,000

Pending

2009-2011         Principal Investigator with M. Wallhagen, K. Dracup, D Schillinger. Determining Factors of Health Literacy for Safe Self-care Management.  NIH $961,497

2009-2012         Project Director.  Advanced Nursing Education project – Producing Nurse Leaders to Promote Safe, High Quality Patient Care.  DHHS – HRSA $1,140,280.