U-M Health announces new patient safety officer

Approximately a 5-minute read

Key takeaways:

• After spending nearly seven years as the administrative director of patient safety, Nicole Templeton, MHSA, B.S.N., R.N., CPPS recently began a new journey as U-M Health’s patient safety officer.
• Templeton has been a registered nurse for over 24 years with experience in the U.S. Army and surgical intensive care.
• As part of the organization’s high reliability journey and establishing a culture built on safety, Templeton and the Office of Patient Safety team will continue working with many individuals and teams across disciplines.

After spending nearly seven years as the administrative director of patient safety, Nicole Templeton, MHSA, B.S.N., R.N., CPPS recently began a new journey as U-M Health’s patient safety officer.

With over 17 years of experience in health care quality and safety learning and applying concepts in high reliability and systems thinking, she brings a wealth of knowledge to the role.  

“We are so fortunate to have Nicole lead us into the next chapter of U-M Health’s safety journey,” said Katie Bates, M.D., associate chief clinical officer and associate professor of pediatrics at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. “She has experience leading safety efforts both here and at other health systems, and a deep passion for patient safety.”

In this position, Templeton will work collaboratively with patient safety leaders, senior leadership, clinical leaders and frontline staff to detect patient safety improvement opportunities and close safety gaps. However, that won’t just begin in the new role. In her previous position, she contributed to the organization’s culture of safety in a variety of ways. 

“(Nicole) has been a fantastic partner as our institution works to improve its safety culture – she also has been generous of her time and spoke on this topic at our statewide thoracic surgery summer meeting last year, which was well received, especially coming out of the pandemic,” said Andrew Chang, M.D., head of thoracic surgery.

A noteworthy nursing background

Templeton has been a registered nurse for over 24 years, and is an alumnus of the U-M School of Nursing and School of Public Health. Additionally, she has nursing experience in the U.S. Army and surgical intensive care.

Her nursing experience coupled with a health services administration degree have given her exposure to a variety of scenarios in health care.

“As a nurse, Nicole understands the clinical workflows that impact patient safety and the importance of a high-functioning, multidisciplinary team,” said Leah Shever-Doletzky, Ph.D., R.N., director of nursing research, quality and innovation at U-M Health.

Learning for a lifetime

Templeton said that her bedside nursing experience has taught her many things, one of the most important being the vital role of each member on a care team.

“Every person on the interdisciplinary care team is essential to safe patient care. All of us who work behind-the-scenes, in those non-clinical settings, have crucial roles as well,” Templeton said.

Although she has gained a great deal of knowledge throughout her years in health care, Templeton is eager to learn all that being in the new position will teach her, especially about best practices in safety.

“As just one example, Kellogg Eye Center and ophthalmology have implemented a robust patient safety program,” she said. “I hope to learn from their great work to see how components could be spread to other areas.”

Creating a culture of safety

As part of the organization’s high reliability journey and establishing a culture built on safety, Templeton and the Office of Patient Safety team have worked with many individuals and teams across disciplines.

“Nicole has helped us create many opportunities including safety grand rounds, training for safety coaches and encouraging emphasis on not just adverse events but near misses,” said Shahzad Mian, M.D., interim chair of ophthalmology and visual sciences.

Building psychological safety and creating a culture where staff feel comfortable speaking up without fear of retribution is an integral part of the work, and Templeton said she looks forward to continuing to build that type of safety culture across the organization.

She noted that such a culture would not be possible without the strong teamwork of the Office of Patient Safety and those individuals who work on safety across the organization and is excited to continue working with them to build safer systems.

“Our team is amazing. They work hard partnering with others to help correct system deficiencies and reduce the chance of preventable harm,” said Templeton. “The relationships and collaboration across U-M Health, and the passion for reliability and safety that I see every day, is inspiring.”

Please congratulate Templeton on her new role at Michigan Medicine!