Nurses as Content Experts, Mentors, and Judges at Collaborative Innovation Sprints

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to reveal unique patient needs that require innovative problem-solving approaches. While a meeting of collaborative experts to solve problems is not novel, the formal inclusion of nurses as content experts at these types of events is less typical. To date, no reports of outcomes related to the inclusion of registered nurses (RNs) with any level of education and certification and in any role at an interprofessional hackathon are found in the extant literature. This article discusses participation of nurses as content experts in hackathon events, with information about principles of innovation, characteristics of innovators, hackathons, and the iterative process. We report methods, results, and include discussion about a descriptive survey study that considered perceptions of interprofessional participants in two hackathons held in 2020. Our analysis adds preliminary information about participants perceptions regarding collaboration with consulting nurses as content experts.