Patient Safety Series: Integrating Health Equity Experts into Maternal Morbidity Review

Tenille Cox is a seasoned Registered Nurse and Patient Safety Leader with more than 18 years of experience in healthcare, specializing in Obstetric Nursing. She currently serves as the RN Operations Manager for the Patient Safety Program at MedStar Health, one of the region’s leading integrated healthcare systems.

In her role, Tenille functions as a system-level patient safety expert, leading strategic initiatives to improve patient outcomes, strengthen psychological safety, and advance proactive risk mitigation. She collaborates with clinical and operational leaders across the system to enhance safety culture, optimize event reporting and analysis, and implement evidence-based practices that reduce preventable harm.

As a System Lead in Health Equity, Tenille is deeply committed to embedding equity into patient safety and driving initiatives aimed at improving maternal health outcomes and ensuring safe, equitable care for all patients.

A certified expert in TeamSTEPPS communication strategies, Tenille has been instrumental in equipping clinical teams with the skills needed to foster effective communication, teamwork, and high reliability. Her passion for empowering healthcare professionals through education, collaboration, and safety leadership continues to drive meaningful, sustainable improvement in patient care environments.

Renie Osei, BSN, MSN, C-EFM, is a dedicated Registered Nurse with over 17 years of experience specializing in obstetrics and neonatal care. A proud veteran of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Renie has spent her career advancing the health and well-being of mothers, babies, and families. She currently serves as the Clinical Quality Manager for Medstar Health at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, where she leads initiatives to improve clinical outcomes and promote patient-centered, equitable care.

In this role, Renie partners closely with frontline clinicians to optimize workflows and implement systemwide safety strategies. She was instrumental in establishing her hospital’s Perinatal Safety Committee, where she led the crosswalk of system-wide clinical practice guidelines for postpartum hemorrhage, identified critical practice gaps, and co-developed the Code OB Hemorrhage protocol—including authoring the clinical response algorithm that now guides emergent obstetric care. Renie serves as Co-Chair of the System Severe Obstetric Complication Health Equity Committee, where she advocates for evidence-based, bias-free care delivery that centers the dignity and safety of every patient. She also serves as a clinical instructor in maternal-child nursing, where she prioritizes equity and compassion as foundational principles in the clinical learning environment—ensuring that future nurses are equipped to deliver not only evidence-based care, but care that is deeply compassionate and equitable.

At the heart of Renie’s work is a guiding belief: that every family deserves to leave the hospital healthy, happy, and empowered. Her long-term vision is to help build a healthcare culture where equity, intentionality, and clinical excellence are the standard—not the exception. Outside the hospital, Renie extends her impact through childbirth education, teaching for a local maternal health organization and running her own business dedicated to preparing families for confident, informed births. She is also the author of Build Your Birth Dream Team, a practical guide designed to help expecting parents take ownership of their birth experience.