Jefferson Jefferson College of Health Professions Annual Visiting Scholar Day

JCHP's department of nursing hosted the 22nd Annual Visiting Scholar program on April 3, 2002. This year's event, Medical Errors: Impact and Policy was designed to help students, alumni and practicing healthcare professionals learn about how to prevent the many medical errors facing the current healthcare community.

This year's speaker was Mary K. Wakefield, PhD, RN, director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks, ND. The Center for Rural Health engages in a number of activities including policy analysis, research, and educational initiatives. Priority policy issues include Medicare, quality in health care, Native American health issues and emergency medical services.

"Mary Wakefield is one of the leading authorities in the nation on medical errors," stated Mary Schaal, RN, EdD, acting chair of JCHP department of nursing. "In her lecture Healthcare Safety: Nursing Solutions for Today and Tomorrow, Dr. Wakefield addressed the growing concern of healthcare safety. She proposed that solutions are dependent on corrective actions that must occur at the systems level and that interdisciplinary education for teamwork is fundamental. With the education of nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals an essential component of the mission of TJU and TJUH, we have the opportunity to design and develop systems and educational strategies that will lead to improved safety in healthcare."

Dr. Wakefield has presented nationally and internationally on public policy and strategies to influence the policymaking and political process. She has authored many articles and columns on health policy and is on the editorial board of a number of professional journals, including the editorial board for the Journal of Rural Health.

Dr. Wakefield received her Master of Science in Nursing and her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. Her Bachelor of Science in Nursing is from the University of Mary at Bismarck, ND. She was a Kodak Fellow in the program for senior mangers in government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Dr. Wakefield is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

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