Get inspired
When a design, when an idea, when simply thinking differently can save lives, it’s important to make sure nurse innovators know how to move forward. That means empowering them to move from the bedside into the boardroom. Their extensive, hands-on patient experience means they’re the first to identify a patient’s problems and needs. And with their training, skills and innate resourcefulness, they’re also qualified to help shape what healthcare is, into what healthcare ought to be.
Here, we’ve collected stories from nurse leaders who have done just that. From past to present, they’re inspiring a new generation of innovators. Even if they don’t consider themselves innovators yet.
Here, we’ve collected stories from nurse leaders who have done just that. From past to present, they’re inspiring a new generation of innovators. Even if they don’t consider themselves innovators yet.
Hear from these nurses about what it means to be a nurse
No two days are ever the same when you’re a nurse. Find out what it’s really like from all kinds of nurses across the U.S.
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What I love about nursing is the different personalities, different families, different cultures. And of course, they’re coming in a vulnerable state where they’re sick, but you get to be a part of that person’s healing process. You get to know them, you get really close to them, and then you help them. You make them feel better.
Avery, BSN, MS, CENEmergency room nurse -
Every day that I go home, I know I have impacted someone’s life in a positive way. I love knowing that I have been there for my patients, from those who are toddlers to those who are geriatrics. I help to alleviate their fears and be with them during a frightening experience in their lives.
Thomas, PhDNurse anesthetist -
What I love most about being a nurse is that I go home feeling great about what I’ve done. To me it’s not just about holding hands or wearing colorful scrubs. It’s about using fast critical thinking skills, listening to your gut, your instinct, and going from there.
Anita, MSN, MS, CCRN, C-NPTPediatric and neonatal critical care transport nurse -
You develop such a strong bond with people because they put so much trust and faith in you to keep them safe and to be the one guiding them through this whole process. It’s a really huge honor that people allow me to take care of them in that way.
Tiffany, BSN, MS, CLC, RNC-MNNObstetrics and gynecology nurse
Why be a nurse?
A career in nursing is one of the most exciting and rewarding occupations. Nurses provide vital hands-on patient care, but that’s not all they do. They are leaders, innovators, educators, change makers helping improve access to care. Find out why nursing as a career can be right for you.
Nursing career FAQs
For those interested in a nursing career, there are a few frequently asked questions to consider. One common question is how to become a nurse, which typically involves completing a nursing program and obtaining licensure. Get answers to these and other common questions about nursing as a career with the resources and videos below.
How we support nursing innovation
Nurses are uniquely positioned to change the global trajectory of health for humanity. Johnson & Johnson is proud to support and elevate the impact of nursing by championing nurse-led innovation that can transform human health.
A legacy of innovators
Intro
Nurse-led innovation isn’t new. It began with the first recognized nurse innovator, Florence Nightingale, in the 19th century. That was over 160 years ago. Since then, nurses have been on the frontlines of every single health crisis and they’ve spearheaded significant breakthroughs in patient care, disease prevention, and medical devices.
Nurses have laid the groundwork for decades of innovation. In the following timeline, you’ll see how.
Nurses have laid the groundwork for decades of innovation. In the following timeline, you’ll see how.
1854
Florence Nightingale, a Model for Nurse Innovation
Florence Nightingale became the model for how nurses innovate, thanks to her revolutionary hygiene practices during the Crimean War. After working in desperate conditions at the Army hospital in Scutari Turkey, Florence and her medical team improved its facilities from top to bottom. They cleaned the wards, set up a kitchen, and provided wounded soldiers with the first form of what’s now known as “quality care.”
As a result, far fewer patients died from hygiene-related diseases, prompting hospitals all over the world to formally adopt Florence’s practices — practices that are still used today.
Florence Nightingale became the model for how nurses innovate, thanks to her revolutionary hygiene practices during the Crimean War. After working in desperate conditions at the Army hospital in Scutari Turkey, Florence and her medical team improved its facilities from top to bottom. They cleaned the wards, set up a kitchen, and provided wounded soldiers with the first form of what’s now known as “quality care.”
As a result, far fewer patients died from hygiene-related diseases, prompting hospitals all over the world to formally adopt Florence’s practices — practices that are still used today.
1939
Elizabeth Kenny and the Treatment of Polio
Like her predecessors, Elizabeth Kenny had no formal nursing education, but she would still be remembered for her breakthrough treatment of polio. When “Sister Kenny” (a name she earned in the Australian military) saw her first polio case, she had a hypothesis: that the patient’s limbs were stiff but not permanently paralyzed.
Unaware that stiff braces were the accepted medical treatment at the time, she used hot packs and encouraged gentle movement. This method re-taught patients how to use limbs that had been only temporarily paralyzed by the virus, revolutionizing the treatment of the disease.
Like her predecessors, Elizabeth Kenny had no formal nursing education, but she would still be remembered for her breakthrough treatment of polio. When “Sister Kenny” (a name she earned in the Australian military) saw her first polio case, she had a hypothesis: that the patient’s limbs were stiff but not permanently paralyzed.
Unaware that stiff braces were the accepted medical treatment at the time, she used hot packs and encouraged gentle movement. This method re-taught patients how to use limbs that had been only temporarily paralyzed by the virus, revolutionizing the treatment of the disease.
1940s
Adda May Allen, Inventor of Disposable Liners for Baby Bottles
Adda May Allen was a nurse at Columbia Hospital in Washington D.C. when she invented disposable liners for baby bottles. Realizing that babies often struggled to feed from traditional bottles, Adda created a disposable, collapsible liner that hospitals and moms at home could use once then throw away. It made it easier for babies to suck milk by eliminating the vacuum that traditional bottles created, working like a bag that closed in on its sides as a baby drank.
Adda May Allen was a nurse at Columbia Hospital in Washington D.C. when she invented disposable liners for baby bottles. Realizing that babies often struggled to feed from traditional bottles, Adda created a disposable, collapsible liner that hospitals and moms at home could use once then throw away. It made it easier for babies to suck milk by eliminating the vacuum that traditional bottles created, working like a bag that closed in on its sides as a baby drank.
1943
Bessie Blount Griffin, Inventor of the Electronic Feeding Device
African American nurse, Bessie Blount Griffin, was also a physical therapist and a forensic scientist. But she’s best known in the nursing community as the inventor of the electronic feeding device. While working at the Bronx Hospital in New York, Bessie invented an electric self-feeding tube for amputees, which could transport individual bites of food to a patient’s mouth. All the patient had to do was bite down on the tube and the food would dispense from an attached machine.
Bessie would later design a neck frame for injured or ill patients that could hold a bowl or cup close to their face as a “portable receptacle support.”
African American nurse, Bessie Blount Griffin, was also a physical therapist and a forensic scientist. But she’s best known in the nursing community as the inventor of the electronic feeding device. While working at the Bronx Hospital in New York, Bessie invented an electric self-feeding tube for amputees, which could transport individual bites of food to a patient’s mouth. All the patient had to do was bite down on the tube and the food would dispense from an attached machine.
Bessie would later design a neck frame for injured or ill patients that could hold a bowl or cup close to their face as a “portable receptacle support.”
1950s
Sister Jean Ward and the Treatment for Jaundice in Infants
Sister Jean Ward made a simple observation about sunlight that would lead to the most common clinical treatment for jaundice in infants. As Sister Jean was caring for newborns — during her time as head of the Premature Unit at Rochford General Hospital in Essex, England — she realized that sun exposure greatly reduced jaundice and its effects on the skin and liver.
This discovery led to neonatal phototherapy, a practice that safely and effectively treats the condition by exposing babies to artificial UV light.
Sister Jean Ward made a simple observation about sunlight that would lead to the most common clinical treatment for jaundice in infants. As Sister Jean was caring for newborns — during her time as head of the Premature Unit at Rochford General Hospital in Essex, England — she realized that sun exposure greatly reduced jaundice and its effects on the skin and liver.
This discovery led to neonatal phototherapy, a practice that safely and effectively treats the condition by exposing babies to artificial UV light.
1954
Elise Sorensen and the First Disposable Ostomy Bag
Elise Sorensen was the innovator behind the first disposable ostomy bag, which helps patients with post-surgery stomas feel more comfortable doing everyday things. Following her sister’s ostomy operation — a procedure that removes the end of the intestine through the abdomen, allowing waste to exit through a surgically-created stoma — Elise designed a new way to manage stoma leaks.
Instead of the metal capsules or fabric and rubber bags that were used at the time, Elise designed a disposable bag that was attached with an adhesive ring, a predecessor to the devices we use today.
Elise Sorensen was the innovator behind the first disposable ostomy bag, which helps patients with post-surgery stomas feel more comfortable doing everyday things. Following her sister’s ostomy operation — a procedure that removes the end of the intestine through the abdomen, allowing waste to exit through a surgically-created stoma — Elise designed a new way to manage stoma leaks.
Instead of the metal capsules or fabric and rubber bags that were used at the time, Elise designed a disposable bag that was attached with an adhesive ring, a predecessor to the devices we use today.
1968
Anita Dorr and the Crash Cart
As an OR nurse, nursing supervisor, and member of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Anita Dorr had a breadth of experience that she used to invent the first crash cart. After WWII, Anita went back to work as an ER nurse at Meyer Memorial in Buffalo, New York. There, after spending days carrying supplies back and forth, getting delayed every time there was an emergency, Anita leveraged her husband’s carpentry skills to invent the “Emergency Nursing Crisis Cart.”
Today, it’s more commonly called a Crash Cart. And they’re so essential that nurses customize them to their professional needs and even personal tastes.
As an OR nurse, nursing supervisor, and member of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Anita Dorr had a breadth of experience that she used to invent the first crash cart. After WWII, Anita went back to work as an ER nurse at Meyer Memorial in Buffalo, New York. There, after spending days carrying supplies back and forth, getting delayed every time there was an emergency, Anita leveraged her husband’s carpentry skills to invent the “Emergency Nursing Crisis Cart.”
Today, it’s more commonly called a Crash Cart. And they’re so essential that nurses customize them to their professional needs and even personal tastes.
1980s
The Wong-Baker FACES® Pain Rating Scale
The Wong-Baker FACES® Pain Rating Scale — or happy to sad faces, as many know it — was created by Donna Wong and Connie Baker to help children communicate pain. As pediatric specialists, Donna and Connie worked with young patients to help them cope with illness or injury.
In the hope of creating an effective pain assessment tool, patients were asked to think back to their own experiences and draw facial expressions to show how they felt when they experienced different levels of pain. Each face was unique, but soon, a pattern developed, becoming the modern-day rating scale we use today.
The Wong-Baker FACES® Pain Rating Scale — or happy to sad faces, as many know it — was created by Donna Wong and Connie Baker to help children communicate pain. As pediatric specialists, Donna and Connie worked with young patients to help them cope with illness or injury.
In the hope of creating an effective pain assessment tool, patients were asked to think back to their own experiences and draw facial expressions to show how they felt when they experienced different levels of pain. Each face was unique, but soon, a pattern developed, becoming the modern-day rating scale we use today.
1980s
A More Human Standard of Care for AIDS Patients
In the early 1980s, nurses Cliff Morrison and Alison Moed Paolercio did what few other people in the U.S. would have dared: establish a new standard of care for patients in the country’s first dedicated AIDS unit. HIV/AIDS was an epidemic that also brought with it an epidemic of hysteria, fear, and marginalization. When the disease was spreading faster than information could be obtained, nurses at San Francisco General Hospital defied medical conventions to treat “untouchable” patients with a truly innovative approach to care.
In Wards 5B and 5A — wards specifically dedicated to HIV/AIDS — nurses put themselves at personal risk to stand beside patients as they faced painful symptoms and, oftentimes, death. It revolutionized hospital care at the time in the US and around the world, and proved instrumental in gathering data that transformed the disease from a fatal prognosis to a manageable condition.
In the early 1980s, nurses Cliff Morrison and Alison Moed Paolercio did what few other people in the U.S. would have dared: establish a new standard of care for patients in the country’s first dedicated AIDS unit. HIV/AIDS was an epidemic that also brought with it an epidemic of hysteria, fear, and marginalization. When the disease was spreading faster than information could be obtained, nurses at San Francisco General Hospital defied medical conventions to treat “untouchable” patients with a truly innovative approach to care.
In Wards 5B and 5A — wards specifically dedicated to HIV/AIDS — nurses put themselves at personal risk to stand beside patients as they faced painful symptoms and, oftentimes, death. It revolutionized hospital care at the time in the US and around the world, and proved instrumental in gathering data that transformed the disease from a fatal prognosis to a manageable condition.
2003
Safer Patients and Fewer Errors, With Color-Coded IV Lines
After over 30 years of nursing experience, Teri Barton-Salinas and her sister, Gail Barton-Hay, put their observations into a unique innovation: color-coded IV lines. Noticing that there can be a number of hazards using clear, indistinguishable intravenous lines — let alone multiple lines, in some cases — Teri hypothesized that using different colors would make the insertion and removal process much easier.
ColorSafe IV lines now allow nurses to more quickly and accurately identify a patient’s IV, especially in emergency situations when every second counts.
After over 30 years of nursing experience, Teri Barton-Salinas and her sister, Gail Barton-Hay, put their observations into a unique innovation: color-coded IV lines. Noticing that there can be a number of hazards using clear, indistinguishable intravenous lines — let alone multiple lines, in some cases — Teri hypothesized that using different colors would make the insertion and removal process much easier.
ColorSafe IV lines now allow nurses to more quickly and accurately identify a patient’s IV, especially in emergency situations when every second counts.
2016
Rebecca Koszalinski and the Speak for Myself-Voice app
Throughout her career, Rebecca Koszalinski has been helping the speech vulnerable communicate. Mostly recently with her Speak For Myself-Voice app. Building on her background as a clinical instructor, researcher, assistant professor, and app developer, Rebecca created the Speak For Myself-Voice app. It helps disabled patients, such as those diagnosed with cerebral palsy, clearly communicate in clinical situations, like when they’re left unattended and find themselves in an uncomfortable position.
As a result, Speak For Myself-Voice is now in the hands of those who need it most, so there can be open and effective lines of communication between friends, family members, healthcare providers, and the most vulnerable patients
Throughout her career, Rebecca Koszalinski has been helping the speech vulnerable communicate. Mostly recently with her Speak For Myself-Voice app. Building on her background as a clinical instructor, researcher, assistant professor, and app developer, Rebecca created the Speak For Myself-Voice app. It helps disabled patients, such as those diagnosed with cerebral palsy, clearly communicate in clinical situations, like when they’re left unattended and find themselves in an uncomfortable position.
As a result, Speak For Myself-Voice is now in the hands of those who need it most, so there can be open and effective lines of communication between friends, family members, healthcare providers, and the most vulnerable patients
2018
In the spotlight of National Nurses Week, nurses Abby Hess, Lauren Wright, and Tram Pham became the first awardees of the Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge. When Abby first started working as a nurse in the pediatric post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) of Cincinnati Children’s, she heard a valuable piece of advice: Kids who fall asleep fighting, as they’re given anesthesia, often wake up fighting.
To make that process easier, she and her team created a breathing-controlled video game using anesthesia masks that provided a more engaging way to help kids practice being induced before surgery.
Halfway across the country, Lauren and Tram were researching how to prevent dysbiosis — a disruption in the gut microbiome that affects over 4,000 babies a year. They learned that increasing breast milk consumption can establish immunity, so they turned to overcoming a common breastfeeding barrier: nipple confusion.
To make sure babies who are used to being bottle-fed can return to the breast, they invented the Natural Nipple, which 3D prints the shape of a mother’s nipple.
To make that process easier, she and her team created a breathing-controlled video game using anesthesia masks that provided a more engaging way to help kids practice being induced before surgery.
Halfway across the country, Lauren and Tram were researching how to prevent dysbiosis — a disruption in the gut microbiome that affects over 4,000 babies a year. They learned that increasing breast milk consumption can establish immunity, so they turned to overcoming a common breastfeeding barrier: nipple confusion.
To make sure babies who are used to being bottle-fed can return to the breast, they invented the Natural Nipple, which 3D prints the shape of a mother’s nipple.
2020
Nurse Innovation in Real Time, to Fight COVID-19
From medical grade masks to new, color-coded methods of communication, nurses like Ellen Smithline and Jessica Latham, have been on the front lines, developing innovative responses to COVID-19. After 35 years of nursing — including first-hand experience with Ebola, SARS, and emergency care — Ellen paused her PhD program to work as an isolation tents nurse manager in communities hit with COVID-19.
There, she put her crisis training to work by collaborating with her ground team to create a laser-cut shield from a single sheet of flexible plastic that can be worn over an N95 mask, curbing the need for goggles. No assembly required.
Likewise, Jessica used her years of experience as an ICU educator to create “Code Cards” that helped pass important messages within her Covid-19 ICU quickly and effectively. Once the pandemic started to create more stressful conditions in her unit, Jessica’s team needed a way to keep the code team informed and those outside of the room unexposed. Within an hour of identifying the problem, they created laminated “Code Cards” with the most common medications and procedures, ready for use across ICU areas
From medical grade masks to new, color-coded methods of communication, nurses like Ellen Smithline and Jessica Latham, have been on the front lines, developing innovative responses to COVID-19. After 35 years of nursing — including first-hand experience with Ebola, SARS, and emergency care — Ellen paused her PhD program to work as an isolation tents nurse manager in communities hit with COVID-19.
There, she put her crisis training to work by collaborating with her ground team to create a laser-cut shield from a single sheet of flexible plastic that can be worn over an N95 mask, curbing the need for goggles. No assembly required.
Likewise, Jessica used her years of experience as an ICU educator to create “Code Cards” that helped pass important messages within her Covid-19 ICU quickly and effectively. Once the pandemic started to create more stressful conditions in her unit, Jessica’s team needed a way to keep the code team informed and those outside of the room unexposed. Within an hour of identifying the problem, they created laminated “Code Cards” with the most common medications and procedures, ready for use across ICU areas
Stories about nurses leading innovation
From isolation to connection: How this rural nurse residency program builds community
In many rural hospitals, new nurses may be the only graduate hired that year. The Iowa Online Nurse Residency Program connects them with peers across hospitals, creating the support network they need to build confidence and thrive in practice.
How nurses at Tufts turned patient mobility into a workforce solution
When nurses at Tufts Medical Center saw that patient mobility was clinically essential but operationally difficult, they didn’t accept the gap — they redesigned the work. Through the Nursing Workforce Solutions program, a team of direct care nurses created a dedicated Mobility Tech role that improves patient outcomes while easing nursing workload burden. Here’s how structured nurse-led innovation is transforming care from the bedside up.
Why investing in nurses is essential to the future of healthcare
Nurses are the backbone of healthcare delivery. Yet philanthropic investment in nursing lags far behind the need to transform complex health systems. Below, learn why sustained investment in nurses is essential to sustained access to care.