USP Member Spotlight – Summer 2008
Dr. Rita Munley Gallagher
USP Member from the Generic Pharmaceutical Association and Member of the Council of the Convention
The dedicated service and valuable contributions of USP volunteers is a key element in achieving USP's mission of promoting public health.
This issue of the USP Member Spotlight shines on Rita Munley Gallagher, Ph.D., R.N., senior policy fellow at the American Nurses Association (ANA). In this role, Dr. Gallagher is charged with identifying, researching, conducting, and reporting on health policy activities related to ANA priorities. She prepares and provides input for the development of policy statements and legislative priorities for the association and serves as ANA's liaison to the Joint Commission, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the National Quality Forum, and USP.
Dr. Gallagher began her voluntarism at USP in 1994 as a member of the Communication Skills Curricular Resource Advisory Group. She has been a member of the USP Convention, representing ANA, since 2000. During the 2005 Convention, Dr. Gallagher worked to ensure inclusion of safe disposal within Resolution 9: Promoting Safe Medication Use and Disposal—one of 13 Resolutions adopted at the Convention meeting. She serves as a member of the Council of the Convention and chairs the "Quality of Patient Care" section—one of five "communities of interest" within the Convention membership. Dr. Gallagher has also worked with the Medicare Model Guidelines Provider Advisory Forum since 2004, served as member of the advisory body for USP Resolution 7: International Harmonization in 2005, and was a member of the USP Standardized Imprint Codes Project Needs Assessment Working Group.
Dr. Gallagher has represented ANA, a founding member, on the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) since 1999. Currently, she serves as vice chair of NCC MERP and co-chair of its Taxonomy Subcommittee. In October 2006, Dr. Gallagher addressed the concept of USP practitioner outreach and provided an update on the work of NCC MERP at USP's Patient Safety Stakeholder Forum. She spearheaded NCC MERP's successful nomination for the prestigious Pinnacle Award in 2007, and has worked to advance the group's pending Eisenberg Award nomination.
Prior to ANA, Dr. Gallagher worked for more than ten years in health care education in the academic setting. She is active in Sigma Theta Tau International, the honor society of nursing, where she has been recognized as a Virginia Henderson Fellow. Dr. Gallagher is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Society on Aging and the American Public Health Association, where she has been elected to the governing council representing the Public Health Nursing Section.
Dr. Gallagher earned a master's of science degree in community health nursing and a doctorate in applied sociology from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
