Dr. AkkeNeel Talsma is Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Talsma's work emphasizes the relationship between the hospital care and patient outcomes from a nursing systems perspective. Her research will investigate the relationship between errors that may occur in the operating room and patient's outcomes at discharge. The study will contribute to an understanding of the relationship between nurse staffing characteristics, interruptions and discontinuities of care, and patient outcomes. The long range goal is to understand the nursing-systems factors that may contribute to the development of complications and lead to the development of system-level interventions or policies that contribute to desirable patient outcomes. This work builds on Dr. Talsma's unique Failure to Rescue study in seven Michigan hospitals.

Dr. Talsma received her graduate education at the University of Michigan School of Nursing. She further developed her professional expertise in patient safety through measuring clinical performance and evaluating patient outcomes in a variety of settings.