Digna Wheatley

Digna Marie Wheatley Pearson currently works at Johns Hopkins Medicine Howard County General Hospital as a Director of Patient Relations and Risk Manager. Her primary responsibility is to ensure the hospital maintains compliance with state and federal laws as well as accreditation standards related to safety and risk management. She trains management and staff about various aspects of the risk management program. Digna investigates and analyzes fundamental problems or trends that could result in liability for the hospital. She recommends and helps to implement corrective action where appropriate. For example, Digna successfully facilitated teams in the implementation of an Online Physician Orientation program, and she developed a more efficient protocol for massive blood transfusions. Her creation of an emergency response team for obstetrical emergencies garnered national recognition for her hospital. Digna has more than eighteen years of nursing experience. Her background includes Medical/Surgical and Surgical Intensive Care Unit Nurse for a Level I Trauma Center. She is ACLS Certified and has served as a Code Yellow Trauma Responder. Digna has extensive performance improvement experience and has successfully led FMEA teams in Medication Reconciliation, Falls, and Handoff Communication. In 2004, she successfully led Baltimore's Bon Secours Health System in its Joint Commission Accreditation Survey. While at Bon Secours, she also helped the organization improve its Core Measure scores in areas such as immunizations, heart attacks, and surgical care improvement. She is currently licensed as a Nurse Case Manager/Delegating Nurse in the state of Maryland and a former Board member of the Maryland Association of Healthcare Quality.