From left: Anne Bane, Beth Baldwin, Laura MacLean, Emily Borges, Steven Hicks, Prakhar Kapoor and Jared Hill present a multidisciplinary poster at Karsh Nursing Scholars Day.

As part of a hospital-wide celebration of National Nurses Week, the Department of Nursing hosted the annual Karsh Nursing Scholars Day on May 9 to spotlight nurse-led innovation, research and quality improvement efforts. The day’s events included poster displays, fair tables, a keynote speech, pitch session and updates on projects showcased last year. (View a photo gallery here.)

“This day filled me with a sense of optimism for the future of our profession and the care of current and future generations of patients,” said Katie Fillipon, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, interim chief nursing officer and senior vice president, Patient Care Services. “Our Brigham nursing community is asking questions, gathering evidence and sharing our knowledge and work more broadly for the benefit of others. This is how we achieve our vision of a healthier community and world.”

Fillipon thanked Mrs. Estrellita Karsh, longtime supporter of BWH nursing, for whom the event is named, and Ross Levine and the Chleck Family Foundation, which supports nursing research.

‘Innovation: Translation to Practice’

Hiyam Nadel

Hiyam Nadel, MBA, BSN, CCG, RN, FIEL, director of the MGH Center of Innovations in Care Delivery and a Johnson & Johnson fellow, delivered the keynote speech to kick off the day.

“There are two things I’m passionate about: nursing and innovation,” she said. “As nurses, we’re always innovating. We should always keep challenging ourselves all the time.”

Nadel spoke about innovative work led by MGH nurses and gave practical advice for nurses interested in innovation. She noted that innovations come from those who “deeply live the problem,” meaning those who are doing the work each day.

She encouraged nurses to get involved in health care innovation as important stakeholders in the process, sharing the following tips:

  • Be curious and challenge the status quo.
  • Create a “dream team” with multidisciplinary members, such as nurses, physicians and engineers to develop innovative solutions.
  • Keep iterating. “At MGH, we had 13 revisions on one prototype,” said Nadel.
  • Learn to take risks.
  • Understand that failures are opportunities.
  • Learn from other industries and look to nature in creating solutions.
  • Embrace “futures thinking.” What is your innovation going to look like now and what will it look like 10 years from now?
  • Most importantly, “Just start somewhere.”

Writing Scholarship Recipient Shares Reflections

Last year, during Karsh Nursing Scholars Day, Amanda Shimko, MS, RN, CNL, Ambulatory Clinical Nurse Educator, was presented with the inaugural nursing writing scholarship, supported by the Cheryl Spencer Memorial Foundation. This year, she returned to share an update on her work and the support she has received as a scholarship recipient.

Because ambulatory clinics across BWH are all different from one another, Shimko and Professional Development Manager, Rose Passamonte, DNP, FNP-BC, wanted to determine how they could best support the educational needs of ambulatory nurses.

Amanda Shimko

“Each clinic is different in their needs, structures and specialties,” Shimko said. “We wanted to create a model to best utilize the educator role.”

They began with the Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery. “We immersed ourselves in the clinic to understand the day-to-day work of the nurses, things they wanted to work on and challenges they experienced,” Shimko said.

The educator developed partnerships with staff nurses, providers, nurse leaders and other roles in the clinic to create teams and implement quality improvement projects. The Ambulatory Education team also created a sustainability tool that helps nurse leaders keep the projects moving forward as the educator moves to other clinics.

“We’ve since taken the model and applied it successfully to other clinics,” said Shimko. “We’ve noted improved patient experience, nurse engagement and satisfaction as a result.”

Shimko and Passamonte are in the process of submitting an article on this work for publication with guidance from nurse scientist Annie Lewis-O’Connor, PhD, NP-BC, MPH, FAAN.

“Annie helped us walk through the publishing process,” said Shimko. “She talked with us about how to review what’s been published on the topic before and decide on a journal. Annie and the nurse scientists have been really helpful and supportive in this process.”

Shimko plans to submit the manuscript for publication next month. “I would encourage anyone interested in this process to reach out to the resources we have available,” she said.

Are you interested in applying for the nursing writing scholarship? The deadline has been extended to Friday, June 21, at noon. Applications are available here.

“Walk This Way” Project Update

Thoracic Surgery Intermediate Care Unit nurses from last year’s winning Pitch Fest team returned to report on the progress of their project, “Walk This Way: Counting Steps to a Better Recovery.”

From left, Emily Moore, Amy Delaney, Christina Murray and Maryssa Tripoli

Noting the benefits of early ambulation after surgery, the team sought to use pedometers to help motivate patients to walk and meet their mobility goals. Evidence has shown that early post-operative ambulation can reduce patients’ risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and other health issues. Patients who ambulate sooner also typically have a shorter length of stay.

“We thought that if we could better measure ambulation — specifically, steps — we could better set goals for our patients,” said Maryssa Tripoli, BSN, RN.

The team encountered some challenges along the way, which Lewis-O’Connor noted is simply part of the research and innovation process. Now, the team is working to obtain IRB approval for their study.

In addition to Tripoli, team members include Caroline Bollettiero, MSN, RN, Amy Delaney, BSN, RN, Emily Moore, BSN, RN, Christina Murray, BSN, RN, and Maureen Tapper, MSN, RN, PCCN.

‘Heart Guard’: 2024 Pitch Fest Recipient

Katie Fillipon presents a certificate to Michael Calderone

This year’s Pitch Fest recipient is Michael Calderone, BSN, RN, of Cardiac Surgery. He presented an idea to develop a device that would better secure leads for cardiac surgery patients. He plans to use the funding to develop a prototype that meets regulations and compliance requirements.

“The device is preventative in nature,” he said. “Despite low instances of harm related to wires, I believe it’s time to standardize our practices to reduce risk of harm and decrease length of stay and unnecessary medical costs that could result.”

Poster Session and Fair Tables
This year, there were 36 posters on display, including 27 from BWH and nine from BWFH. Posters represented a wide range of projects focused on quality improvement, patient experience and other topics.

Nurses and colleagues also staffed fair tables to highlight available resources for innovation, wellness and education.

In closing the event, Fillipon urged nurses to take advantage of the many offerings to pursue their own ideas for innovative projects.

“If you ever wondered if there was a better way of doing something, please bring your ideas and questions forward,” she said. “We have resources to support and guide you at every phase of the research and innovation process. I am so proud of what we showcased today to the entire Brigham community.”

Pam Linzer, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, associate chief nursing officer for the Center for Nursing Excellence and Patient Care Services, thanked the many individuals and teams involved in planning the event. “We are fortunate to have an exceptional Nursing Research and Innovation Committee that is very passionate about supporting our nursing community,” said Linzer. “Their efforts, along with members of the Center for Nursing Excellence, were integral to this incredible celebration of nursing innovation.”

Staff who helped to organize the event included: Annie Lewis-O’Connor, PhD, NP-BC, MPH, FAAN, nurse scientist; Gary Zina, BSN, RN, CCRN, and Mel Nedder, MSN, RN, CCRN-CMC, NPD-BC, co-chairs of the Nursing Research and Innovation Committee, along with all committee members; and Katarzyna “Kasia” Spitalniak, operations project coordinator for the Center for Nursing Excellence, among many others.

Members of the Nursing Research and Innovation Committee

Learn about the many resources available through the Center for Nursing Excellence and the Research and Innovation Committee to help you each step of the way (this link is accessible only to employees of Mass General Brigham).