Nurses solve problems every day.
They spot subtle changes in a patient’s condition. Navigate complex systems. Adapt when plans change. That’s what innovation looks like in practice—and it’s the foundation of the Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship (JJNIF), powered by Penn Nursing and the Wharton School.
The year-long fellowship brings together nurse leaders from health systems across the country and immerses them in human-centered design, equity-centered design, and design thinking methodologies. Fellows start by listening—seeking to understand the experiences of those closest to a problem, whether that’s a bedside nurse, manager, patient, family member, or interdisciplinary colleague.
From there, they define challenges, generate ideas, and test solutions—turning insight into action.
At the close of the 2025-2026 Fellowship, thirteen teams presented solutions addressing some of healthcare’s most persistent challenges, from workplace violence and workforce development to communication, patient experience, and operational efficiency.
While the solutions vary, they share a common thread: every innovation starts with people. Explore the solutions below.
1.
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center: The GuardianClip
Workplace violence often feels sudden, but frontline nurses know that many incidents are preceded by subtle warning signs: a change in tone, pacing, agitation, or escalating behavior that may go unnoticed in a busy clinical environment. The team at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center proposed GuardianClip, an intelligent wearable safety device designed to strengthen situational awareness and improve response times during potentially violent encounters.
Worn as part of a nurse’s badge holder, the concept combines behavioral monitoring with a discreet alert system, helping clinicians recognize escalating situations and quickly notify nearby colleagues when assistance is needed. The device can also provide confirmation that help is on the way, offering reassurance during high-stress moments.
Developed in response to growing concerns about workplace violence and its impact on staff wellbeing, retention, and safety, GuardianClip is designed to complement clinical judgment, not replace it. By helping teams identify risk earlier and coordinate a faster response, the solution aims to create a safer environment for both healthcare workers and patients.
University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center: PEA+CE
Many workplace violence solutions rely on staff to recognize escalating situations and determine the appropriate response. The team at the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center asked a different question: What if health systems could identify risk and intervene before violence occurs?
Their answer is PEACE (Physiological Evaluation and Crisis Escalation), a predictive and detective safety platform that uses electronic medical record data to identify patients at elevated risk for behavioral escalation and, when needed, leverages intelligent monitoring technology to detect warning signs in real time. Unlike traditional monitoring tools, PEACE doesn’t stop at identifying risk. It automatically alerts and mobilizes the appropriate care team members, behavioral health specialists, and security resources based on the severity of the situation.
Designed as an end-to-end safety platform, PEACE aims to help health systems move from reacting to workplace violence to preventing it, creating a safer environment for both nurses and patients.
2.
Atrium Health Pineville: Listen Linda
Communication challenges often create frustration for both frontline nurses and leaders.
The Atrium Health Pineville team developed Listen Linda, a solution designed to strengthen communication channels between nurses and leadership. The concept creates more effective pathways for frontline concerns, ideas, and feedback to be heard, understood, and acted upon.
By helping nurses feel seen and valued, the team hopes to strengthen trust, engagement, and workplace culture across the organization.
Cleveland Clinic Health System: IMPROVE
Every day, frontline nurses identify opportunities to improve care, whether it’s a better handoff process, a workflow inefficiency, or a patient education resource that could work better. Yet many of those ideas never move beyond a conversation, sticky note, or staff meeting. The Cleveland Clinic team recognized that the challenge isn’t a lack of ideas. It’s a lack of a clear pathway to turn those ideas into action.
The IMPROVE (IMprovement and PRocess Optimization Visual Engine) initiative creates a structured process for nurses to identify challenges, propose solutions, and participate in innovation efforts. Nurses can quickly share opportunities for change, while leaders can assign ownership, monitor progress, and provide visibility into what is being implemented and why. Automated communications, shared accountability tools, and a searchable repository of past solutions help ensure ideas don’t get lost between identification and execution.
The team envisions IMPROVE as more than an idea tracker. By creating a transparent, closed-loop process for continuous improvement, the platform helps ensure nurses have a voice in shaping their work environment while giving organizations a scalable way to capture and implement frontline innovation. The initial pilot would launch on two medical-surgical units, with plans to expand across the Cleveland Clinic system and eventually to other industries where employee-driven innovation is critical.
Beth Israel Lahey Health, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center: Improving Communication Between Inpatient Nurses and Surgical Residents
Communication between inpatient nurses and surgical residents is essential to coordinated patient care, yet important information can easily become delayed, fragmented, or difficult to prioritize in a busy clinical environment. The Beth Israel Lahey Health team identified an opportunity to reduce this friction and create a more seamless way for care teams to connect.
Their solution is a secure communication platform designed to streamline collaboration between nurses and surgical residents. By helping ensure the right information reaches the right person at the right time, the tool aims to reduce unnecessary back-and-forth, support faster decision-making, and improve the experience for both clinicians and patients.
Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune: MPATHe
Care journeys often involve a complex web of clinicians, patients, and family members, each with different information needs and priorities. When communication breaks down, patients can feel disconnected from their care plan, families can become frustrated, and clinicians can spend valuable time tracking down updates rather than delivering care.
The Naval Medical Center team developed MPATHe to strengthen communication and coordination throughout the patient journey. The solution is designed to improve how information flows between care teams, patients, and families, helping ensure everyone has access to timely, relevant updates. By creating a more connected experience, the team aims to reduce confusion, strengthen trust, and improve continuity of care across settings.
3.
CommonSpirit Saint Anthony Hospital: Clinical Compass
The transition from nursing school to practice remains one of the most challenging periods in a nurse’s career. New graduates are expected to rapidly build confidence, develop clinical judgment, and navigate unfamiliar systems, often while caring for increasingly complex patients.
The CommonSpirit St. Anthony team developed Clinical Compass to provide new nurses with the support, guidance, and resources they need during this critical transition. Designed as a practical navigation tool, the solution helps connect nurses to mentorship, professional development resources, and just-in-time support, creating a stronger foundation for success.
By helping nurses feel more confident and connected early in their careers, the team hopes to improve retention, strengthen workforce stability, and support long-term professional growth.
University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital: EMBER
Early-career nurses often struggle to find a sense of belonging as they transition into practice. While clinical skills are essential, confidence, connection, and professional identity can be equally important factors in determining whether nurses remain in the profession.
The UAB team developed EMBER to help foster those connections. The program focuses on creating opportunities for mentorship, relationship-building, and professional development, helping nurses envision a future within the profession while strengthening their support networks.
By investing in nurses during the earliest stages of their careers, the team hopes to improve retention and create a stronger, more resilient workforce.
4.
Penn Medicine: Cor.Insight
Nurse managers are responsible for supporting large teams while balancing staffing, engagement, retention, quality, and operational performance. Yet many leaders lack real-time visibility into emerging workforce challenges until they become larger issues.
The Penn Medicine team developed Cor.Insight, a workforce intelligence platform designed to help nurse leaders proactively identify trends and areas of concern across their teams. By bringing together key workforce insights in a single view, the solution aims to support earlier interventions, more informed decision-making, and stronger support for frontline staff.
Ultimately, the team envisions Cor.Insight as a tool that helps nurse managers spend less time reacting to problems and more time supporting the people they lead.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist: Moments that Matter
In healthcare, meaningful moments happen every day, but they often go unrecognized amid the pace and pressures of clinical work. Over time, those missed opportunities for recognition can contribute to disengagement and disconnect staff from the purpose that brought them to nursing.
The Atrium Wake Forest team developed Moments that Matter to help capture and celebrate meaningful contributions across the nursing workforce. The initiative creates opportunities for nurses to recognize one another, share stories of impact, and reinforce the human connections that make healthcare meaningful.
By intentionally elevating these moments, the team hopes to strengthen belonging, improve engagement, and foster a culture where nurses feel valued for the difference they make every day.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare: Bedside Boost
Nurses consistently report that administrative tasks, inefficient workflows, and operational barriers take time away from patient care. While each obstacle may seem small, together they can contribute to frustration, burnout, and reduced time at the bedside.
The St. Elizabeth Healthcare team developed Bedside Boost to identify and eliminate these everyday inefficiencies. Through workflow improvements and targeted solutions designed around nurses’ experiences, the initiative aims to streamline tasks and reduce unnecessary burdens on frontline staff.
The ultimate goal is simple: give nurses more time to focus on patients, while creating a more efficient and satisfying work environment.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens: Surgical Navigator
For patients and families, surgery can be one of the most stressful and uncertain moments in the healthcare journey. Questions about timing, expectations, and next steps can create anxiety before, during, and after a procedure.
The NYC Health + Hospitals team developed Surgical Navigator to provide greater communication, coordination, and support throughout the surgical experience. By helping patients better understand where they are in the process and what comes next, the solution aims to reduce uncertainty and create a more informed, connected experience for patients and families.
The team sees potential to expand the model beyond surgical care and into other procedural settings across the health system.
Yale New Haven Health, Bridgeport Hospital: NavigatER
Emergency departments are often fast-paced, high-stress environments where patients and families can spend hours waiting with limited visibility into what is happening behind the scenes. That uncertainty can lead to frustration, anxiety, and a diminished care experience.
The Yale New Haven team developed NavigatER to bring greater transparency and communication to the emergency department journey. The solution helps patients better understand where they are in the care process, what steps remain, and what they can expect next.
By reducing uncertainty and improving communication, NavigatER aims to create a more supportive experience for patients and families while helping care teams build trust during some of healthcare’s most challenging moments.
The future of healthcare depends on nurses
Collectively, these thirteen projects offer a glimpse into what is possible when nurses are equipped with the tools, language, and support to innovate.
Some solutions leverage technology. Others focus on communication, mentorship, culture, or workflow redesign. Yet all reflect a fundamental truth: the people closest to healthcare challenges are often closest to solving them.
Each year, a new cohort of the Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship is announced. Beginning in 2026, the kickoff Summer Institute offers 32 continuing education credits to all attendees as part of the innovation curriculum provided by Penn Nursing.
