Nurse innovator index
This blog was written by Olivia Lemberger. Olivia is a Health Sciences PhD Candidate at Northern Illinois University and a clinical nurse educator at Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Illinois. She is extremely proud to coordinate the mentoring programme and the transition to practice programme for new graduate nurses. Olivia serves on the American Nurses Association Education and Communication Innovation Advisory Committee and is one of the twelve inaugural Johnson and Johnson nurse innovation fellows.
After working in the emergency department for 16 years, I was intrigued to learn that an emergency room nurse, Anita Door, innovated the crash cart. I was even more amazed when I shared this story with my colleagues and realised that no one had heard it. I told the crash cart story to fellow educators at my university, and again, no one had heard about it. I decided to explore nursing innovation further by pursuing a PhD in Health Sciences. I immersed myself in learning more about the amazing accomplishments carried out by our profession’s unsung heroes.
I quickly became frustrated trying to locate information regarding nurse innovators. It was either non-existent or buried so deep that it was almost impossible to find. I remember thinking that I wish there were one central place that was easily assessable to find information about nurse innovators. That idea led me on a journey to create the Nurse Innovator Index. Nurses are doing amazingly innovative things, and EVERYONE should know about it.
The purpose of the Nurse Innovator Index is to serve as a repository of information and resources for nurse innovators and those interested in learning about the contributions of nurse innovators, entrepreneurs, and scientists.
The Index highlights contributions from 1) Nurse Innovators who create new products, services, or processes, 2) Nurse Entrepreneurs who bring new products, services or processes to market by initiating a for-profit or not for profit business venture and, 3) Nurse Scientists who systematically gather and use research and evidence to make hypotheses and test them to gain and share understanding and knowledge. Many of the nurses listed in this index boundary span into several categories by forging new healthcare roles, implementing new models of care, initiating health care legislation, and generating avenues to increase health equity.
I hope the Index provides an avenue to learn, collaborate, and disseminate the innovative initiatives led by nurses. The intention is that this Index will grow as nurses submit their exemplars of innovative endeavors not yet known. It’s time we share our collective nursing history and revel in our professional accomplishments, including the myriad of success stories about how nurse innovators have positively changed the world. My deepest hope is that, as nurses, we begin to realise our collective worth as innovators and nurture the insights and creativity of those within our profession.
If you are a nurse innovator and would like to be included in the nurse innovator index please click here to submit your innovation.
