Creating Academic Opportunities for Facilitating Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations Focused on Emerging Technologies for the Clinical Setting

Introduction: Authoritative sources have called for nurses at all levels to demonstrate informatics competencies, including those related to understanding the influence, design, and potential use of emerging technologies. Yet, gaps related to incorporating informatics content specifically related to emerging technology and innovation into nursing curricula continue to exist. Knowledge pertaining innovation is important for nurses, particularly as they engage in the process of examining how emerging technologies influence healthcare delivery and as they evaluate the potential uses and impact of emerging technologies.

Description of the problem: Nurses are immersed in the practice and application of care technologies and are positioned to assist in the conceptualization of innovative ideas and designs; however, few have received formal training for such experiences, and collaborations between relevant disciplines such as nursing, engineering, and analytics have been essentially absent in nursing education. Few colleges and universities have responded to national trends on their campuses through innovation labs or centers as well as programs focused on entrepreneurship, business metrics, and data analytics offering opportunities to converge clinical, financial, and administrative perspectives. Leading consulting firms in healthcare organizations suggest that the success of an organization lies in valuable data-driven decision-making based on analytics and performance metrics, which can be taught to students in cross-disciplinary courses focused on innovation and emerging technologies for the healthcare setting. Advancements related to technology in healthcare are accompanied by a need for qualified nurses, business analytics experts, and engineers to work together as their fields intersect. The workforce needs those that understand the healthcare environment as well as technology, yet few are prepared to respond to this national call.

Outcomes: The purpose of this presentation is to share information about the development of a cross-disciplinary course to address the learning needs of nursing, business, and engineering students related to the development of innovative solutions to problems encountered in patient care clinical settings. Activities and assignments created to help equip students with communication and design skills as they enter the workforce or new professional roles will be shared.

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