Join us for NASN’s First Innovation Relay!
As a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow, I had an exciting opportunity this past February to go to the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Boston where speakers from another local company shared the innovation process they use to create new health practices and products. It was so energizing and I loved it, leaving me wanting to learn more.
One of the activities IHI spoke about is called “Innovation Relays” when people come together for an intense amount of time to solve problems through innovation. They are similar to hackathons – when computer programmers get together and work to create new coding, gaming, or technology solutions. The energy of these experiences is infectious and so many new, creative ideas come from them that hackathons are popping up across the nation!
Others have tapped into the general idea of hackathons to create ‘ideathons’ and innovation relays to create that same innovative, energizing environment. In school nursing we have our fair share of barriers and obstacles that I got to thinking, “What if we used this same innovation process to look at our problems, and more importantly, focus on innovative solutions?”
So join us for NASN’s first Innovation Relay! This is how it will work:
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On June 29, 2016 from 6:00-7:00 p.m., those who would like to participate will come and learn about innovation/problem solving process, be given the problem to address for the relay, and then work with fellow conference participants to find solutions. You can come alone and form a team that evening or come as a team of 3-4 people.
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The teams will have 24 hours to develop a solution, which team members will present (in 5 minutes or less) by video or share it orally on June 30th from 6:30-7:30 p.m. All conference participants are invited to attend the presentations (we will show the videos too) to learn what solutions arose, and even provide input of the best solution!
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All solutions will be reviewed and the ‘winning’ solution will be announced July 1, 2016 during the 8:00 a.m. General Session that I will be conducting regarding the Framework 21st Century School Nursing PracticeTM.
- The winning solution will be adopted by NASN and carried out to fruition (we welcome the team’s support and participation in this as well).
The whole experience should be a creative, fun, empowering process for all! Come be part of the solution; or if you prefer, please come on June 30th to listen to the solutions that were created and provide your input on which is the best idea. At any rate, let’s innovate together to find ways for school nurses to be part of the solution to meet our students’ needs so they are safe, healthy, and ready to learn.
Learn more in the conference schedule.