Congratulations to the Duke Ob/Gyn team that received the Rebecca Kirkland Award at the 2023 Duke Health Quality and Safety Conference. Their winning abstract is titled "Ensuring safe discharge: A quality improvement initiative for postpartum hypertensive patients."
Background: Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDP) are the second leading cause of maternal mortality in the United States and are a major contributor to postpartum deaths. Current recommendations are for clinical follow up with assessment of blood pressure within three days after discharge for severe HDP and no later than seven to 10 days after delivery for all patients with HDP. Aim: The team's global aim is to improve postpartum morbidity and mortality in patients with HDP.
The winning team members are: Kathleen M. Zacherl, MD; Emily Sterrett, MD, MS; Brenna L. Hughes, MD, MSc; Heather Talley, MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, CNML; Karley Whelan (Duke School of Medicine MS3); Samuel T. Bauer, MD, CPE, MBA; Anna Swartwood, RN; Krista Wilson, MHA, RN; Ashley Personius; Tiffanie Ferrera, BSN, RN, CNML; Katie Bloedau, RN; Jamie Tyler-Walker, MIS; Emily Joubert, CNM, MSN; Jaxon Olsen, MD (resident); Patricia Penderman, BSN, RN; Hailee Robson, RN; Stephanie Locus, MSW; and Laura J. Havrilesky, MD, MHSc.
The conference included a virtual poster session, virtual panel discussions and an in-person conference. The goal is to provide a forum for DUHS and DUHS affiliates to learn best practices and innovative concepts related to patient safety and quality from national and local content experts. Knowledge sharing of internal performance improvement projects is provided during the associated poster session.
Pictured above, with Richard Shannon, MD, chief quality officer, Duke Health, and chief medical officer and senior vice president, DUHS (far left); and Jonathan G. Bae, MD, CPPS, associate chief medical officer for patient safety and clinical quality, DUHS (far right), are Tiffanie Ferrera; Ashley Personius; Heather Talley; Karley Whelan; Dr. Kathleen Zacherl; and Dr. Emily Sterrett.