Shawn Westadt Mueller, DNP, RN, CIC, FAPIC
Dr. Shawn Mueller has been protecting patients, families, and the people who care for them for over 25 years.
Shawn’s passion for keeping patients safe stems from her personal experience. On Christmas morning 2011, her husband died of pulmonary embolisms which were the result of a missed diagnosis. He was 46 years old. There were multiple errors and lost opportunities to correct his care. He received “good enough” care. Shawn’s family pays the price of “good enough” every day. One timely phone call could have changed good enough care to life-saving care. The saddest part of this story is his death due to medical error is not unique.
Shawn’s experience in the Infection Prevention profession includes academic medical centers, community hospitals, acute care, long-term care, medical clinics, and childcare centers. Shawn received her diploma from the Bryan Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Nebraska Wesleyan University, and her Doctorate of Nursing Practice with a concentration in Infection Prevention from Loyola University in Chicago. Since 2012, Shawn has been the Multi-Site Director for both MedStar Good Samaritan and MedStar Union Memorial Hospital Infection Prevention and Control Departments in Baltimore MD. Shawn was named a “Hero of Infection Prevention” in 2008 and named a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) in 2016.
Shawn has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented both oral and poster abstract presentations. In June 2023, Shawn received the “Heroes Implementation Research Scholar Award” by APIC for her research project into decreasing surgical site infections in patients undergoing hip and knee joint replacement surgery. APIC also recognized her significant contribution to advancing the science and practice of infection prevention and control throughout her career.
Shawn considers her greatest accomplishment to be the three wonderful compassionate human beings she has raised all of whom demonstrate excellent hand hygiene.
