Judith Gedney Baggs ’84N (MS), ’90N (PHD)

Judith Gedney Baggs, PhD, RN, is a nationally recognized researcher in the field of interprofessional collaboration and collaborative end-of-life decision making in the intensive care unit setting. She is currently a member of the Oregon Health & Science University nursing faculty and deputy editor-in-chief of the Journal of Interprofessional Care.

Baggs began her academic career with a bachelor’s degree in English, but after a few years and raising three children, she realized that her passion was health care. She then completed an associate degree in nursing and started her nursing career working in the intensive care unit (ICU). After moving to Rochester in 1978, she completed a bachelor’s program and then received her master’s degree from the University of Rochester School of Nursing where she developed a passion for research.

In 1990, Baggs earned her doctorate at the University of Rochester, studying collaboration between nurses and physicians and its effect on ICU patient outcomes. She segued to an interest in palliative care, studying ICU end-of-life decision-making from the perspective of patients, family, nurses, physicians, and other members of the interprofessional team. Her goal with this research was to develop recommendations for ICUs to improve the process of decision-making, thus making the patient and family journey more supportive and inclusive.

She worked at the University of Rochester Medical Center for 12 years initially as a Medical Intensive Care Unit staff nurse. For the next 15 years she worked in the School of Nursing, eventually as professor and associate dean of academic affairs. Baggs then moved back to Oregon, working at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing as senior associate dean for academics and director of the PhD program. She semi-retired in 2018, but continues to be active professionally, assisting OHSU nursing faculty and editing the Journal of Interprofessional Care.