Nurses' unique perspective sets them up to be natural healthcare innovators.
Nurses are natural healthcare innovators, and an article in the July issue of Nursing 2022 outlines key actions that nurses can take to turn their ideas into innovations that solve healthcare problems.
Nurses’ understanding of patients, families, and communities provides a unique perspective to the use of technology and other innovative processes to promote health and well-being, prevent disease, and manage acute and chronic conditions.
Innovations can produce new devices or products, but they also may result in new processes or concepts for change, according to the article by Dr. Nelita (Marianela) Iuppa, DNP, MS, BSN, NEA-BC, RN-BC, FHIMSS, Cleveland Clinic’s associate chief nursing officer for informatics.
She referenced a Cleveland Clinic medical-surgical nurse who recognized the need for enhanced assessment skills for pressure injuries for patients with limited mobility.
“She determined that assessments done under the aid of a mirror produced better outcomes with minimal pain and discomfort associated with traditional nursing skin assessment turning techniques,” the article says.
The nurse worked with her manager to purchase handheld mirrors for the nursing staff and created the “Reflect to Inspect” initiative, which has been a resounding success. Since “Reflect to Inspect” was initiated, no pressure injury incidents in the nurse’s unit have been identified in more than three years, the article says.
Still, setting aside dedicated time to identify and engage support resources to bring an idea to fruition is a challenge. The article offers detailed steps that nurses can take to help that happen, including:
- Document innovative ideas
- Identify support resources
- Engage with an experienced mentor
Encouraging innovation early on
Many schools of nursing are integrating innovation into their curriculums and creating spaces for students and faculty to engage in the innovation process.
"We must promote nurse-led innovation initiatives internally and externally, to amplify the work being done by nurses in education, research, policy, and practice," says Marion Leary, RN, MSN, MPH, FAHA, director of innovation at Penn Nursing.
"If we do this, we will achieve a clear, coherent, and unified message around nurse-innovation,” Leary says, “and further solidify the innovation ecosystem within the profession.”
Carol Davis is the Nursing Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
An article in the ,July issue of Nursing 2022 by an associate chief nursing officer at Cleveland Clinic outlines key actions that nurses can take to turn their ideas into innovations.
Innovations can produce new devices or products, but they also may result in new processes or concepts for change.
Many schools of nursing are integrating innovation into their curriculums.