Nurse Innovation Hackathons Our Nurse Innovation programming provides unique experiences for nurses to flex their innovation muscles and receive the support and motivation needed to bring their ideas to life and improve human health.

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Meet the 2024 NH4H awardees: Two nurse-led innovations transforming care and empowering the profession

In an inspiring display of nursing innovation, the nurse-led teams from the Ghanaian-Diaspora Nursing Alliance and Seattle Children’s Hospital have together been awarded a combined $185,500 in grant funding through the third annual NurseHack4Health Pitch-A-Thon. Meet the two teams here.

2024-11-11T16:47:26.591Z

Learn more here

About the 2024 Pitch-A-Thon

Take it Apart | Fix it | Build it Better

Johnson & Johnson, the Society of Nurse Scientists Innovators Entrepreneurs and Leaders (SONSIEL) and Microsoft have teamed up for the fifth year in a row to host the 2024 NurseHack4Health virtual Pitch-A-Thon, supported by ALL IN Wellbeing First for Healthcare and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation.

Ten nurse-led teams have been selected as finalists and will pitch their solutions virtually on Oct. 15 for the opportunity to receive $150,000 in grand funding to bring their ideas to life.

Key Dates

Applications Open

May 6, 2024
Applications Due

Aug. 9, 2024
Finalists Selected

Aug. 30, 2024
Innovation Accelerator

Sept. 5 – Oct. 11, 2024
Pitch-A-Thon Event

Oct. 15, 2024

Visit the NurseHack4Health website to find out more

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Learn About Past Pitch-A-Thons

Nurses Leading Innovation

Reimagining a Workplace Where Nurses Thrive: Meet the Pitch-A-Thon Awardees

The first-ever NurseHack4Health Pitch-A-Thon took place in October 2022. Ten nurse-led multidisciplinary health system teams took center stage to pitch their solutions for redesigning a healthcare workplace where nurses and other health care professionals can thrive.

Meet the three 2022 finalist teams here

Vancouver Coastal Health – AutoChart's Sally Newton-Mason, BSc, BSN, RN, MSN, and Clement Chui, BSN

Nurses Leading Innovation

Announcing the 2023 NurseHack4Health Pitch-A-Thon Awardee Team!

In 2023, the Pitch-A-Thon journey began in September, as more than 20 health system teams participated in the NurseHack4Health Hackathon. Over a fast-paced weekend, teams developed and pitched their ideas to catalyze a healthy work environment, and ten finalist teams were selected to pitch their ideas for the chance to receive $150,000 in grant funding.

Meet the 2023 awardee team here

What is NurseHack4Health?

NurseHack4Health is a community of nurses, healthcare professionals, developers, engineers, IT experts and other innovators focused on ideating and collaborating to address today’s most pressing healthcare challenges.

Through specialized programming, NurseHack4Health empowers participants with the skills and mindset needed to proactively address the dynamic challenges of healthcare. Our community began in 2019 with nurse Hackathons, weekend-long live and virtual events where individual nurses and teams envision and build solutions to real-world challenges.

Why Should You Attend Future NurseHack4Health Events?

Through our programming, nurses learn pragmatic ways to redefine complex healthcare issues, foster creative problem solving, prototype innovative solutions through human-AI collaboration, and integrate design methods into nursing practice and to develop a healthcare environment where nurses and patients thrive. 

Ready to start your innovation journey? You can receive up to 2 continuing education credits through the NurseHack4Health Innovation Academy! This three-session, asynchronous learning program offers workshops to power-up your innovation skills through design thinking, creating the perfect pitch, and AI solutions! Learn more and sign up now.

Stay tuned for future NurseHack4Health event announcements coming soon!

How to Prepare

What to Expect

Hackathons champion nurse-led innovation by bringing nurses together with people from different professions, in-person or virtually, to “hack” real solutions to health problems in a supportive team setting with peers and mentors. Participants don’t need to come with an idea – just be ready to join a team, examine the problem and dive in to develop a solution. By the end of the hackathon, the goal is for teams to have minimum viable products (MVPs) that can be fast-tracked for further development and implementation in a healthcare setting.

Attending a hackathon is a great way to bond, brainstorm, develop and pitch healthcare solutions that will forever change the way you think about a problem, your perceived value and impact, and your vision for your future in nursing and healthcare!

Watch Our NurseHack4Health May 2020 Video
Innovation Skills

What does it take to make the most of a hackathon experience? Understanding fundamental innovation skills—such as problem solving, risk-taking, collaboration and strategic planning—can help you make the most of your time participating in a hackathon.

Even when you develop a valuable idea, sometimes figuring out what to do next can feel overwhelming.

Get started today and explore how to unlock your potential to spark innovative health solutions and improve patient care. Be sure to check out the section on Design Thinking for Health – a must-read before any hackathon! Learn more:

Skills Nurse Innovators Should Develop and Grow
What Makes a Good Pitch

Pitching your idea to a panel of judges is a critical part of the hackathon process. The judges are often well-respected industry experts who will examine how well your idea meets hackathon criteria, such as its viability or impact on human health.

Each team typically has three to five minutes to present to the judges and answer questions. Assembling a rock star team and developing a valuable idea are critical; however, sometimes teams fall short in making a compelling pitch. Learn more:

How to Tell Stories that Influence People and Inspire Action

NurseHack4Health Pitch Template

How to Win a Pitch
Open Source Innovation

Hackathons can have different goals, such as launching a start-up business or generating ideas for the open market to adopt. As a participant, it’s important to understand your responsibilities as well as the desired hackathon output.

“Open source” means that no one legally owns or has intellectual property associated with the ideas. People come together to hack for social good and ideas are publicly available to any individual or organization to quickly use or adapt to help solve problems. For NurseHack4Health, participants are asked to post their ideas on GitHub, a collaborative hosting platform where hackers can iterate collectively. Learn more:

What is Open Source

Open Source Resources

GitHub Learning Lab
Minimum Viable Product

The goal of many healthcare hackathons is for teams to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). A minimum viable product has just enough core features for the solution to be demonstrated or used. Developers then typically deploy the product to potential customers or early adopters who are more likely to give feedback and be able to grasp a product vision from an early prototype. The advantage of developing an MVP is to quickly get a working solution for a pressing problem into the healthcare setting. Learn more:

Forbes: What Is A Minimum Viable Product, And Why Do Companies Need Them?

LEANSTACK: What is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

CleverTap: What Is A Minimum Viable Product + Methodologies For Marketers

Read More Stories About Nurses Leading Innovation

Nurses Leading Innovation

How Atrium Health is building a culture of well-being for nurses

The largest health system in the Carolinas has introduced a Well-Being Coaching Initiative that is transforming nurse well-being by reducing burnout and turnover by fostering self-leadership. This program trains nurses to coach both themselves and their peers, creating a ripple effect of support across the organization. With impressive results, Atrium is building a long-term culture of well-being by empowering its nursing staff.

2024-11-11T16:43:58.838Z
Nurses Leading Innovation

Improving access to care through NP-led clinics

The U.S. faces a substantial primary care shortage. Nurse practitioner-led clinics are well positioned to fill these gaps, but operating a healthcare enterprise comes with its own challenges. Meet the NP working to expand care access by providing the resources and economies of scale to other nurse-led clinics.

2024-10-04T15:37:44.863Z
Nurses Leading Innovation

Get inspired: 10 nurse-led solutions to support a thriving nursing workforce

Ten nurse-led multidisciplinary health system teams from around the world were selected as finalists for the NurseHack4Health Pitch-A-Thon, with the chance to be awarded up to $150,000 in grant funding to bring solutions for a thriving workforce and healthy work environment to life. Meet the finalist teams below!

2024-10-04T15:37:33.603Z