Mary Foley, RN, PhD, FAAN

Clinical Professor, School of Nursing
Physiological Nursing
+1 415 514-3638

Mary E. Foley PhD, RN, FAAN is a Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing. She is the Director of the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation. Mary has worked with the Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes (CALNOC) since 2004 and is currently a member of the Board of Directors. During that relationship, Mary developed an expertise in medication safety. Mary is past president of the American Nurses Association and the National Student Nurses Association. While at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco she was a Staff Nurse, Director of Nursing, and Safety Officer.

A registered nurse for over 40 years, Foley continues to write, teach, and lecture about safe care for workers and patients nationally and internationally. She served on the board of the National Patient Safety Foundation, continues as an advisor to the Partnership for Patient Safety (p4ps) and the Patient Safety Education Program, and is a continuing member of the TMIT Patient and Family panel. She is a nursing partner with Karen Curtiss to increase family involvement in hospital care through the “Safe and Sound in the Hospital” program.

Foley received her nursing diploma in 1973 from New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, her BSN in 1976 from Boston University School of Nursing in Massachusetts, and her Masters of Science in Nursing Administration and Occupational Health from UCSF in 1994. She received her PhD in Nursing from UCSF 2010.