Pamela Hughes, MSN, MBA, RN, CWOCN, CNL

Overlook Medical Center

WOC Nurse

I am an inpatient certified wound ostomy and continence (WOC) nurse at a non profit community acute care hospital in New Jersey with a passion for data driven quality improvement. My master's degree’s in public policy, finance, and as a clinical nurse leader have given me the skills to manage patient outcomes including nursing sensitive indicators such as hospital acquired pressure injuries. In addition to my role as a WOC nurse, I have published multiple Quality Improvement studies, am the chair of our hospital's Wound Care Committee, and Nursing Quality Improvement Council.

My drive for quality improvement is a defining feature of my practice and passion. As an acute care inpatient wound and ostomy nurse, I see 8-15 patients per day. I get my best ideas for improvement at the point of care at the bedside. Some ideas come from my own frustrations with process or outcomes, and other ideas from listening to other bedside nurses and their experiences. Seeing skin damage under new tracheostomies motivated me to look into the literature and try to implement a evidence based quality improvement project to improve outcomes.