Caring for Care Teams: Nurses Thriving and Innovating by Design

Abstract

While nurses are often required to innovate in clinical practice, there are currently no widely used standards for delivering innovation content in undergraduate curriculum or in continuing nurse education. Creative thinking and right-brain activities are associated with innovation in multiple fields. This qualitative study sought to discover the innovation potential associated with design training and support of nurses. Whole-Mind Thinking (Pink, 2012), the Triangular Theory of Creativity (Sternberg, 2018a), and the Constructivism Learning Theory for Design Thinking (Pande & Bharathi, 2020) guided this study. The study identified strategies for increasing nurse interest and potential for innovation. It explored nurses’ responses when exposed to creative content and their perspectives on the value of creativity and design thinking training to solve problems in the clinical environment. Data were collected from clinical observations, a design thinking case study, and interviews. Design activities engaged participants in listening for understanding, creating empathy maps, defining problems, drawing, making prototypes, and testing their ideas for the purpose of developing collaborative solutions. Observations and interviews were focused on understanding the impact of the content for nurse innovation and finding additional useful applications for these tools. Findings were analyzed considering the aforementioned theories. They revealed synergies with the design thinking approach as an innovation facilitation tool. Evidence indicated benefits to nurse innovation readiness, nurse optimism, and potential creativity. The study also uncovered opportunities to innovate in the nurse work environment and in patient care.