The Spirit of Innovation: The Nurse
We have so many amazing EIR’s and Eng-IR’s in our ecosystem! Feeling grateful for the expertise, time and energy they ALL give to pediatric device innovation. This is just one example:
Early this morning, CTIP EIR and CEO of Tandem Oak Kim Chansky, MBA and I hosted CTIP’s first medical device Nurse Feedback Group. Nurses from the ICU, PICU, NICCU, Transport and Oncology met with Kim, myself and the Founder of Deranaz; Dr. Vivian Ogueli, MD a former critical care nurse herself! This group of nurses gave us genuine, insightful design and utility feedback. The type and range of data generated through these types of interactions are often deeper and richer than those obtained from one-on-one interviews. The conversation that happens between the nurses while testing/evaluating the device is key.
What nurses bring to the R&D conversation is their vast experience of the workflows associated with all aspects of patient care. Nurses are the most consistent part of the health equation, in that they spend more time with patients and their support systems than any other clinician. Involving nurses early in the R&D process of any new and emerging technology makes sense. Nurses know better than most how to solve challenges that arise when providing patient care throughout the continuum and it is not uncommon for nurses to experience an average of one workaround due to operation and system failures per hour when providing care to patients. Every nurse is an agent of change and an innovator. Every day, nurses work together to solve difficult challenges for their patients. The goal is always the same: better care.
To promote a culture of innovation, healthcare leaders must exhibit, foster, promote, and reward six key characteristics: high standard of patient care, divergent thinking, risk taking, commitment to patient safety, agility/ flexibility, and autonomy/freedom. Many of these qualities/abilities are natural to a nurse.
Kim, Vivian and I left the Nurse Feedback Group feeling excited and energized. Most importantly, we feel inspired because ALL the nurses in today’s session said: “We put our patients first, their safety and health is our number one priority!”
Dr. G. Tolomiczenko, PhD and I have been hosting clinical feedback groups across the USC system for over 8 years. Specifically, for teams of MD + PhD students as part of their clinical needs finding exercise. Over the years we’ve learned how and why nurses innovate. After these sessions, students would identify opportunities and new markets for innovation efforts and design/engineer new medical devices/systems.
Today felt extra special tho! Maybe because 2020 is Year of The Nurse. Or maybe because of how Kim and I designed today’s feedback session. Kim facilitated the session with an open mind and open heart; which was well received by the nurses.
I just finished a call with Aliya R. Aaron, MSHS, BSN, RN, Founder of the Nurse Innovation Hub; she connects thousands of nurses to entrepreneurship opportunities. Their mission is to support and empower frontline nurses to develop need-driven innovation to help improve patient outcomes through the use of technology. I’m looking forward to working more with this group and designing ways to collaborate. NIHUB, has over 18k nurse members to date.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has compiled a list of resources to help encourage nurses to be proactive in their efforts to facilitate change and make improvements to health care delivery. DM me for that list. The National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA) is another professional nursing association and a springboard for nurses interested in innovation. Another great read is The Innovators Roadmap: A Guide for Nurse Leaders. These are just a few resources.
Thank you to all the nurses around the world, they take time to make sure we, and the people we love, are comfortable and well cared for! And thank goodness for CTIP’s PI Dr. Juan Espinoza, MD who supported this initiative at every step.
