Nurse Innovation Fellowship
Applications open January 6, 2026
This ground-breaking, one-year, team-based nursing fellowship for Chief Nursing Officers (CNO), nurse executives, and senior nurse leaders, is focused on powering-up nurse-led innovation and leadership within health systems to drive transformative change in the healthcare work environment so nurses and patients can thrive. Johnson & Johnson’s sponsorship of the fellowship covers all attendance and travel costs for participants.
About the Fellowship
The hybrid in-person and virtual fellowship will immerse two nurse leaders from 15 different U.S. health systems in principles of human-centered design and design thinking to be applied to real-world, specific challenges faced by their health system.
The innovation curriculum provided by Penn Nursing will be paired with business acumen, change management and strategic leadership skills development through Wharton Executive Education. At the conclusion of the fellowship, fellows will pitch their innovative solutions with the goal of bringing that solution back to their healthcare system to implement.
The innovation curriculum provided by Penn Nursing will be paired with business acumen, change management and strategic leadership skills development through Wharton Executive Education. At the conclusion of the fellowship, fellows will pitch their innovative solutions with the goal of bringing that solution back to their healthcare system to implement.
2026 – 2027 Program Timeline
Applications OpenJanuary 6, 2026
Applications CloseFebruary 10, 2026
Selected Fellows NotifiedMarch 20, 2026
Program Kick-Off (Virtual)Week of April 20, 2026
Summer Innovation Institute (In-person, Philadelphia, PA @ UPenn Nursing School)June 1-5, 2026
Three Virtual SessionsSeptember 9-10, 2026
November 11-12, 2026
February 10-11, 2027
Final Closing Event (In-Person, New Brunswick, NJ @ Johnson & Johnson World HQ)In person, week of May 17, 2027 (days/times to be determined)
With nurse-led innovation, a brilliant idea is just the beginning. Here's a helpful guide to bringing your solution to life.
Meet the nurses who are changing human health through new protocols, policies, programs, and technologies, every day.
Meet the current and past Nurse Innovation Fellowship teams
- Meet the 10 teams that form the new 2024-2025 Nurse Innovation Fellowship by Johnson & Johnson cohort. The teams represent geographically diverse areas across the U.S., large and small health systems, and standalone hospitals in urban and rural locations.
- Meet the 10 teams that form the new 2024-2025 Nurse Innovation Fellowship by Johnson & Johnson cohort. The teams represent geographically diverse areas across the U.S., large and small health systems, and standalone hospitals in urban and rural locations.
- Nurse Innovation FellowshipMeet the 10 teams that formed the 2023-2024 Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship cohort. The teams represented geographically diverse areas across the US, and came from large and small health systems as well as stand-alone hospitals and public health systems in urban and rural locations.2024-01-08T18:38:13.173Z
- Meet the 12 nurses who formed the 2019-2022 Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship cohort.
Related stories about nurses leading innovation
Through the Nurse Innovation Fellowship Program by Johnson & Johnson, powered by Penn Nursing and the Wharton School, nursing leaders are immersed in the innovation process to redefine the future of patient care and professional well-being by tackling a real problem at their health systems.
The Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship, powered by Penn Nursing and the Wharton School, is built on the concept of applying design thinking and human-centered design to real-world challenges within health systems. But what is design thinking? And how does this concept help nurses enhance their innovative skills and drive change?
