Wendi Martinez

Being a registered nurse with over 35 years of healthcare experience, quality care for patients has always been my personal mission. Throughout the years, I can say that I have taken full advantage of the diversity nursing offers working in cardiac care, emergency medicine, hyperbarics, oncology, stem cell transplant and quality. For the past 19 years, I have had the privilege of working at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston focusing on healthcare quality. From managing the quality at hospitals around the country that are MD Anderson affiliates to directing the council responsible for reporting quality to our Governing Body, I have been blessed with many amazing opportunities.

In the Spring of 2021, my life changed dramatically when I was involved in a traumatic accident resulting in helicopter transport to a Level I trauma center and extensive chest surgery. My recovery from this surgery was interrupted when I was diagnosed with an avoidable surgical site infection. As one can imagine, this one mistake had numerous implications with the most extreme being the distress of the second victims, my family members. Four of my grandchildren were with me in the accident and the last time they saw me, they thought I was gone for good. This preventable mistake kept them from seeing me alive and healthy for many months.

Today, I am a High Reliability (HRO) educator seizing the opportunity to educate patients/families and healthcare workers on how to utilize HRO techniques to help eliminate avoidable harm. So often patients and families are overlooked when this education is done; however, they are key to the success of any HRO. They are actually the most important members of the care team.



On a personal note, I live in Houston, Texas surrounded by my family. If anyone wants to find me on a weekend, I am most likely at a sporting event where my grandchildren are playing.  My granddaughters and I also work with a non-profit called The Birthday Joy Program where we go into orphanages and throw big birthday parties for the kids who are living there separated from their families. Some of these children are teenagers and have never had a birthday party. Most importantly, after this last year, I have learned to stop and enjoy the small but great things like birds singing, amazing cloud formations, sunshine, and children’s laughter.