Ellen Martin, PhD, RN, CPHQ, CPPS

Ellen has been a nurse for over 37 years, providing care to patients in neurosurgical intensive care in a metropolitan regional trauma center, general critical care in a small community hospital, and home health nursing care.  She is a doctoral-prepared registered nurse with over 25 years of experience in healthcare quality improvement, patient safety, and risk management across the continuum of care.  She is passionate about caregiver support, particularly during hospital-to-home care transitions, the focus of her dissertation research.  As a long-distance caregiver herself, she recognizes that despite strides in some healthcare quality and safety measures, progress has been too little and is taking too long.  Disruptive fundamental changes are needed for meaningful improvement, especially for vulnerable populations such as persons of advanced age, frailty, and cognitive impairment.

In her current role, Ellen is the Director of Safety Programs for the Texas A&M Rural and Community Health Institute and is the authorized official of federally-listed Patient Safety Organization P0079, A&M Rural and Community Health Institute, a component of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (TAMU-HSC).  She holds certifications in healthcare quality, patient safety, and a Master Certification in Just Culture.  She enjoys teaching teams about a total systems approach to quality and safety, safety culture, evidence-based skills such as structured communication, situation monitoring, and safety science principles, with the aim of changing personal practice.  Through engaging healthcare leaders and professionals, Ellen aims to foster safer systems and a culture of accountability in healthcare.