Melanie Cariker, DNP, RN, CPHQ

Melanie Cariker is the patient safety officer and director of regulatory and accreditation at Keck Medical Center of USC in Los Angeles, CA. She leads and prioritizes patient safety activities, such as coordinating patient safety protocols, conducting root cause analyses, and regularly assessing the efficiency of patient safety measures. Through collaboration with hospital leadership teams and executives, she creates patient safety standards by creating new programs and strategies and effectively implements them to mitigate sentinel and harm events. Her goal is to ensure that the healthcare institution embraces the overall culture of patient safety. With her continuous activities in regulatory and patient safety, she facilitates change, influences others, and takes action to transcend and transform the organization. Prior to her Patient Safety Officer role, Melanie was the inpatient nurse manager, Quality and Outcomes Management manager, and Regulatory and Patient Safety Director at Keck Medical Center of USC in Los Angeles. Melanie Cariker has led nursing services, clinical service lines, and quality improvement services within Keck Medical Center of USC, a 401-bed acute care hospital and 44 outpatient clinics in the community, which provides comprehensive services throughout Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Orange County areas. As a Magnet-designated organization, Melanie was a committee member in the initial designation process at Keck Medical Center of USC. Melanie is currently pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from California State University, Doctor of Nursing Practice Consortium, in Los Angeles, CA. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western University in Salt Lake City, Utah.