health & technology

For nurses, more flexibility and better work/life balance are essential. Solutions like Mercy Works on Demand are meeting nurses where they are by offering a gig-based approach to scheduling. Not only is Mercy’s innovative approach addressing shortages and improving patient care, it is also bringing joy back to nursing and demonstrating that a new, flexible future is possible for the profession.

Johnson & Johnson is proud to have supported nurse innovators and entrepreneurs through the Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge Awards, which has provided grant funding for nurse-founded healthcare solutions and approaches. But the innovation journey doesn’t stop there. Here, three inspiring QuickFire Challenge awardees share what they’ve been up to since receiving their award, how their solutions have grown and expanded, and their advice for other nurses inspired to solve for healthcare’s biggest challenges.

When health systems tap into the true potential of nurses, the outcomes are actionable, enduring drivers of healthcare transformation. In new research, Johnson & Johnson, American Nurses Association and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership set out to quantify critical learnings and promising nursing practices uncovered during the pandemic, and below, four exemplar nurse leaders share real, replicable examples of barrier-breaking nurse-led innovation.

Johnson & Johnson, together with the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA) and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) proudly announce the eighth Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge: Healthcare Transformation Through Nurse-Led Tech.

Shaken by the experience of witnessing a child nearly die from heat exhaustion after accidentally being left in a hot car, emergency room nurse Maria Striemer, RN, BA, channeled her insight to invent the Backseet Buddy, an app that provides parents with peace of mind that it won’t happen to them.

Chief Nursing Optimization Officer Betty Jo Rocchio, MS, BSN, CRNA, CENP, and her team at Mercy are using technology, data and analytics to create environments that provide nurses more time at the bedside doing what they do best: caring for patients and developing innovative solutions.

Rebecca S. Koszalinski, PhD, RN, CRRN, CMSRN, was inspired to become a nurse after experiencing a nurse’s care during her own health journey.

As the healthcare industry becomes more focused on innovation as a pathway to improving patient outcomes, nurses are stepping up as leaders and innovators, turning their frontline experience into creative solutions to improve patient care. Across her various positions at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Marion Leary, RN, MSN, MPH, FAHA, is focused on researching ways that nurse-led initiatives can improve healthcare now and in the future.

In November 2017, the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) School of Nursing Simulation Center introduced an addition to its inventory of cutting-edge technology: Robo-Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (RoboAPRN). The robot is part of the program’s “RoboAPRN: Telepresence Robots in Healthcare Education” project, which introduces student nurses to remote telehealth technology.

In today’s modern world, technology and innovation are essential to furthering the nursing profession. As the founder and CEO of NurseGrid, Joe Novello, BSN, RN, is using his nursing skills to help improve the nursing profession and advance outcomes for patients.