Healthcare systems across the country are searching for solutions to increasingly complex challenges, from workforce shortages and burnout to care coordination and administrative burden. Nurses experience many of these challenges firsthand every day, yet they are not always given structured opportunities to redesign the systems themselves.
Northwell Health wanted to explore a different approach.
What’s important to us at Northwell is getting the voices of nurses into our decision-making in a clear way, and using all the knowledge and expertise that nurses at all levels of practice have to inform our priorities and decisions.
EdD, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, NPD-BC, DSc h.c., FAAN, EVP
In partnership with Johnson & Johnson and SONSIEL (Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Leaders), Northwell recently hosted a NurseHack4Health immersive innovation sprint designed to test whether innovation methodologies could become embedded into nursing culture inside a health system.
“What’s important to us at Northwell is getting the voices of nurses into our decision-making in a clear way, and using all the knowledge and expertise that nurses at all levels of practice have to inform our priorities and decisions,” said Launette Woolforde, EdD, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, NPD-BC, DSc h.c., FAAN, EVP, Chief Nurse Executive at Northwell Health. “The hackathon was a great way to get our group of 500 nurses working together on the things they thought were most important.”
The Northwell hack built on the broader NurseHack4Health model, a community-driven program that brings together nurses, healthcare professionals, technologists, and innovators to develop solutions for healthcare’s most pressing challenges. Johnson & Johnson supports NurseHack4Health events at conferences like the American Organization for Nursing Leadership’s Inspiring Leader Conference and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Global Health Conference, but this experience represented something different: bringing the innovation process directly into a health system environment and engaging nursing teams at scale.
“We’re looking for ways to drive more impact,” said Michele Morgan, Director of Nursing Programs and Strategy at Johnson & Johnson. “One or two people from a health system might attend a conference, and then trying to build that momentum back inside the organization can be very limited. This gave us the chance to work with almost 500 nurses to infuse understanding of what nurse innovation can look like, in the hopes that it sparks a cultural shift.”
A two-day innovation experience
The innovation sprint was embedded within Northwell’s annual nursing leadership retreat, transforming the event from a standalone workshop into an extension of the organization’s broader strategic conversations.
During the first day of the retreat, Northwell nursing leaders gathered alongside executives including the health system CEO and COO to discuss organizational priorities and future strategy.
The following day, the retreat shifted into innovation mode.
Nearly 500 participants joined the experience, with approximately half participating in person and half virtually. Participants were divided into roughly 60 teams across a mix of nursing disciplines and leadership levels.
One or two people from a health system might attend a conference, and then trying to build that momentum back inside the organization can be very limited. This gave us the chance to work with almost 500 nurses to infuse understanding of what nurse innovation can look like, in the hopes that it sparks a cultural shift.
“I really wanted to walk away with an understanding and a roadmap around the things our nurses think are most important,” Woolforde said. “Our teams developed 60 ideas and we’re using those as the basis for our strategic plan.”
The atmosphere resembled a collaborative innovation lab more than a traditional hospital meeting, featuring breakout sessions, team-based exercises, presentations, and rapid-fire ideation activities designed to keep energy high throughout the day.
“It was so cool,” said Tahsin Nokib, a Northwell telemetry RN. “At first, we all came up with surface-level issues, but eventually we got to a root-level cause. It was interesting and so creative to be a part of a process to come up with a bigger solution.”
“It really increases your teamwork,” said Paul Falcetta, a nurse manager at a Northwell physician practice. “When you get a very disparate group together, everybody’s looking at the same problem but with a different pair of eyes – that’s the best way to come up with an innovative or actionable solution.”
From frustration to possibility
As teams began working through innovation exercises, several major themes quickly emerged.
Many nurses focused on the growing administrative and cognitive burden pulling them away from patient care. Teams proposed solutions ranging from AI-assisted documentation tools and real-time workload balancing systems to virtual discharge support models and predictive analytics designed to reduce burnout and improve patient safety.
Other groups focused on communication breakdowns, care transitions, medication safety, workplace wellbeing, and leadership development.
“As you start to see the same patterns emerge, and multiple groups independently saying – this is something we should work on – it’s very clear that these are priorities we need to emphasize,” Woolforde said.
Leadership support changed the dynamic
One of the biggest reasons the event resonated was the level of engagement from Northwell leadership.
Planning involved multiple strategy and logistics meetings over a six-week period leading up to the event. That collaboration helped ensure the innovation sprint aligned with Northwell’s workforce and care delivery priorities rather than feeling disconnected from operational reality.
“I think Launette’s energy for it, her clear direction that this was something that was a priority for Northwell, was really important,” said Morgan. “It gave energy to the team that this was meaningful work.”
Several Northwell participants have already begun applications for the 2026 NurseHack4Health Pitch-A-Thon, and organizers plan to conduct a six-month follow-up to evaluate whether ideas generated during the event lead to meaningful implementation.
Creating space for nurses to lead change
Nurses are never short on ideas, but what is often missing is dedicated time, organizational support, and structured opportunities to transform those ideas into action – which is exactly what the hackathon sought to solve.
“One of the things we really wanted to accomplish was setting up a framework and creating a way for nurses to work together on solutions,” Woolforde said. “I couldn’t be happier about the general feedback from our nurses and how valuable it was.”
Want to kickstart your innovation journey? Learn more about the 2026 NurseHack4Health Pitch-A-Thon! Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to bring your innovative solutions for a thriving workforce, healthier work environment, and better patient care to life, with a total of $400,000 available in grant funding!
