Bio
Patricia C. Dykes, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FIAHSI, is Professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University and Director of Patient Safety and Innovation at Emory Healthcare. An internationally recognized nurse scientist and informatician, her research focuses on improving patient safety, care quality, and outcomes through health information technology, clinical decision support, implementation science, and data science. Dr. Dykes is widely known for leading the development and dissemination of Fall TIPS (Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety), an evidence-based fall prevention program implemented nationally and internationally. She has led numerous federally funded studies focused on patient safety, fall prevention, clinical decision support, care transitions, and diagnostic excellence. Dr. Dykes is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American College of Medical Informatics, and the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics.
Areas of Interest
- Acute & Chronic Care
- Data Science
- Gerontology and Elder Health
- Health Services Research
- Methods
- Technology
Teaching
My teaching philosophy centers on preparing the next generation of nurse scientists, informaticians, and healthcare leaders to improve patient outcomes through innovation, evidence-based practice, and interdisciplinary collaboration. I emphasize mentorship, critical thinking, and real-world application of research to clinical practice and health system transformation.
My teaching and mentoring approach is grounded in collaboration, inclusivity, and experiential learning. I strive to create environments where learners develop the skills and confidence to lead change, translate evidence into practice, and leverage data and technology to improve healthcare quality and safety.
Throughout my career, I have mentored students, fellows, and junior faculty across nursing, medicine, informatics, and implementation science. Supporting emerging scholars and helping them build successful, impactful careers is one of the most rewarding aspects of my academic work.
Research
My research focuses on improving patient safety, care quality, and health outcomes through clinical informatics, data science, implementation science, and patient-centered clinical decision support. Across my career, I have developed and translated scalable, evidence-based interventions that use health information technology to reduce preventable harm, support clinical decision-making, and engage patients and families as partners in care.
My signature contribution is Fall TIPS (Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety), an evidence-based, technology-enabled fall prevention program designed to improve communication, patient engagement, and individualized prevention planning. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and AHRQ, this work progressed from design and randomized trial testing to pragmatic implementation and cost-benefit evaluation. Fall TIPS has demonstrated reductions in inpatient falls and fall-related injuries and has been disseminated nationally and internationally.
Building on this work, my research has expanded to interoperable clinical decision support tools for fall prevention in primary care, as well as data science and machine learning approaches to patient safety. I serve as site PI for CONCERN, which uses nursing documentation and machine learning to identify hospitalized patients at risk for deterioration, and I lead work on diagnostic excellence, including NLP-enabled measurement of delayed diagnosis of venous thromboembolism.
My future research agenda focuses on responsible, equitable, AI-enabled approaches to improving healthcare quality and safety. I aim to advance learning health systems that integrate evidence into clinical workflows, reduce disparities, and strengthen interdisciplinary decision-making. Mentorship is central to this mission, and I am committed to preparing the next generation of nurse scientists, informaticians, and implementation researchers.
Publications
- Dykes PC, Carroll DL, Hurley A, Benoit A, Middleton B. Why do patients in acute care hospitals fall? Can falls be prevented? J Nurs Adm. 2009;39(6):299-304.
- Dykes PC, Carroll DL, Hurley AC, et al. Fall prevention in acute care hospitals: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2010;304(17):1912-1918. Dykes PC, Burns Z, Adelman J, et al. Evaluation of a patient-centered fall-prevention tool kit to reduce falls and injuries: a nonrandomized controlled trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(11).
- Dykes PC, Scanlan M, Adelman J, et al. Costs and cost-benefit of implementing an evidence-based patient-centered fall prevention program. JAMA Health Forum. 2023;4(2).
- Rossetti SC, Dykes PC, et al. Communicating narrative concerns entered by nurses (CONCERN): clinical decision support for early recognition of patient deterioration. J Am Med Inform Assoc.
- Dykes PC, et al. Development and validation of electronic clinical quality measures for orthopedic care and opioid safety. J Am Med Inform Assoc.
- Dykes PC, et al. Natural language processing-enabled electronic clinical quality measure for delayed diagnosis of venous thromboembolism in primary care. J Am Med Inform Assoc.
- Dykes PC, Bates DW, et al. Patient-centered clinical decision support to improve fall prevention and patient safety across care settings. Appl Clin Inform.