Evaluation of a Synchronous Online Innovation and Design-Thinking Module for Graduate Nursing Students

Nursing innovation skills and knowledge are essential to advance and further nursing practice and the profession. Innovation requires fostering an innovator’s mindset and human-centered design-thinking skills in nursing students. The 2021 AACN Essentials for graduate students include competencies related to innovation. An online Innovation and Design Thinking (I&DT) module, adapted from the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps™ program, was developed as part of a required graduate nursing course in quality and safety. Students applied innovation skills to address stubborn nursing problems. Our pre-post single cohort study evaluated the online innovation module by measuring creative self-efficacy, psychological empowerment, and the traits of design thinking instruments in a sample of graduate students. Pre- and post-test surveys were matched; post-survey results confirmed significant increases in creative self-efficacy, psychological empowerment, and for the Traits of Design Thinkers instrument, the subscale Experimentalism showed a significant difference. Student innovations demonstrated their ability to innovate and prototype practical and clinical innovations, contributing to the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of care. Findings confirmed, even with a small-matched pre-post sample (n = 45), that innovation skills can be developed using this synchronous online format and that confidence and interest in innovation skills was evident during the course. This method of including innovation content in graduate coursework can offer a valuable opportunity to demonstrate AACN innovation-related competencies.