Deb Bakerjian is a clinical professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis where she teaches geriatrics, patient safety and quality improvement. She has over 25 years of nursing home practice experience and has served as a consultant to many nursing homes in the area of quality of care and patient safety. Dr. Bakerjian’s areas of interest include interprofessional education, collaborative practice, and improving the quality of care and safety for aging populations.
Bakerjian earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Policy and Gerontology in 2006 and a Master in Science of Nursing in 1992, both from UC San Francisco School of Nursing. Her doctoral study, “Utilization of Nurse Practitioners in Nursing Homes: A Comparison with Physicians,” received the 2007 Dissertation of the Year Award at UC San Francisco. She earned a Family Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant certificate from the UC Davis School of Medicine in 1991. Dr. Bakerjian is currently the Co-Editor-in-Chief for AHRQs Patient Safety Network, overseeing original content and curated materials focusing on patient safety.
Dr. Bakerjian is a long time member of the Health Sciences section of the Gerontological Society of America and has completed two stints representing the Health Sciences Section on the Publications Committee, worked on membership for a year, and was the liaison to the SRPP for three years. She remains active in both state and national organizations associated with the care of older adults. She is a past- president of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association and the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine. She has been a member of AMDA, The Society for Post Acute and Long Term Care since 2001 and currently serves on the Governance committee. She was one of first nurses to serve on the steering committee for Advancing Excellence in American Nursing Homes and is currently on the National Quality Forum’s Common Formats standing committee representing long-term care. She is also the Chair of the Board of Directors for HealthImpact, California's nursing workforce organization.
Dr. Bakerjian is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the American Academy in Nursing.