David Thompson, DNSc, MS, RN is an assistant professor, clinical and health outcomes researcher. Dr Thompson is the Director of Patient Safety Education in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine. His doctoral degree is in health outcomes research and statistical analysis. His research concentration is in ICU patient outcomes, patient safety and quality improvement initiatives, and multidisciplinary teamwork and safety curriculum development. 

As a clinician/researcher, he trains and collaborates directly with frontline caregivers in our quality and safety evidence-based practice improvement initiatives.

Dr. Thompson is currently a co-investigator/project director for the Comparative Effectiveness Research Grant that uses the CUSP framework and TRanslating evidence Into Practice (TRIP) model to reduce hospital acquired infections and improve culture in the cardiovascular surgical population.

Dr. Thompson is a recent recipient of a Robert wood Johnson Foundation Grant from the Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) program. He was principle investigator of this nursing driven intervention " Linking Care and Context of Care to Blood Stream Infection Reduction"

This two year collaborative to reduce central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) involved Co-investigators in Social Psychology and Health Services Research. The collaborative involved 45 ICUs from 33 Hospitals in 12 states. This was a phased in Randomized Controlled trial where the intervention group (23 ICUS) received the evidence based practice bundle and Comprehensive Unit Safety Program (CUSP) while the other half of the ICUs served as controls then adopted the intervention.

The intervention primary intervention group had an 81 percent decrease in CLABSI. Dr. Thompson is active in teamwork and communication training and has co-directed the medical student patient safety course with Dr. Pronovost for the last 6 years. He also is faculty in the teamwork and communication training program offered through the Johns Hopkins Hospital which he also developed.