Nurses are well-positioned to lead innovation and digital transformation

Nurses - more than caregivers - Innovators

More hospitals and health systems are recognizing the innovation that nurses can bring to the table. The past decades and generations saw “Nurses as caregivers” – they are indeed much more.

Today’s nurse is an innovator with forward-thinking skills; demonstrates technical aptitude, and is "future smart". A patient sees more of a nurse than any other person in the healthcare setting. As Therese S. Richmond noted, "Every product and process that touches a patient goes through a nurse".

Optimize the ability and full potential of nurses—

• Get rid of any policy or procedure barriers that discourage nurses from "practicing to their full scope"

• Encourage specific new approaches to nursing innovation, such as design thinking and entrepreneurship skills

• Create enterprise-wide structures and incentives that encourage interdisciplinary innovation teams

• Elevate at least one nursing leader to the C-suite

Nurses and the technology they use each day are positioned to be major players in the ongoing digital transformation of healthcare.

Full article in Healthcare IT News.