Third Annual NurseHack4Health​™​ Pitch-A-Thon Awardees Announced

Ghanaian-Diaspora Nursing Alliance and Seattle Children’s Hospital teams receive grant funding to support the nursing workforce and improve patient care.

BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES, October 17, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SONSIEL – Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, & Leaders, Johnson & Johnson, and Microsoft today announced the awardees of the third annual NurseHack4Health​™​ Pitch-A-Thon, sponsored by ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson Foundation. The nurse-led Ghanaian-Nursing Alliance and Seattle Children’s Hospital teams will together receive a total of $185,500 in grant funding provided by ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson Foundation to implement their innovative solutions to support the nursing workforce and work environment.

The Ghanaian-Diaspora Nursing Alliance will receive the majority of the funding to advance its innovative MAMA-CVD (Midwife-Assisted Monitoring and Assessment of CardioVascular Disease Risk in Ghana) model​. The approach seeks to train underutilized nurse midwives to identify cardiac abnormalities in pregnant women.

Ghanaians experience a high rate of maternal mortality, while having an abundant yet underutilized nursing and midwifery workforce comprising approximately 130,000 employed and 90,000 unemployed professionals. MAMA-CVD aims to empower nurses and midwives by implementing innovative focused cardiac point-of-care ultrasounds (fPoCUS) aided by artificial intelligence and performed by trained midwives and interpreted remotely to identify cardiac abnormalities in pregnant women. This initiative supports the WHO Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2021-2025, which emphasizes creating a thriving work environment, improving education and training, and ensuring the sustainability of healthcare through better resource allocation.

“Who better than nurses to see a problem, take it apart, fix it, and build it better? The teamwork and innovation displayed by all of the finalist teams perfectly illustrates the power of nurses around the globe to transform healthcare for patients, clinicians, health systems, and beyond. We’re thrilled that the Pitch-A-Thon can help bring these nurse-led solutions to life,” said Hiyam Nadel, MBA, RN, CCG, FIEL, director of the Center for Innovations in Care Delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation fellow and SONSIEL president and co-founding member.

Additionally, the Seattle Children’s Hospital team will also receive kickstarter funding for Nurses Against PIV Infusion Failure, an AI-powered software solution that leverages machine learning to predict peripheral intravenous catheter failure. Most common catheters have an average lifespan of 30-40 hours, and nurses must continually monitor catheter sites for failures. The team’s solution seeks to predict and prevent infection and injury caused by peripheral intravenous infusions, minimizing the need for constant monitoring and decreasing the occurrences of complications while allowing nurses to focus on patient care and other critical tasks.

“We know that nurses experience unique job-related stressors that directly impact their overall mental health and wellbeing. It’s inspiring to see the creative and innovative solutions proposed by all ten of the finalist teams, and we congratulate the Ghanaian-Nursing Diaspora Alliance and Seattle Children’s Hospital teams and celebrate their insight and experience that drives these solutions. We’re excited to see the impact these teams will have on the nursing workforce and the patients they care for every day,” said Corey Feist, CEO and Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, which leads the ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare coalition.

More than 80 teams from around the world submitted their solutions, and in a live virtual session on October 15, 2024, the 10 finalist teams pitched thoughtful initiatives addressing workplace violence, clinical documentation, maternal health outcomes, and more.


ABOUT SONSIEL 
SONSIEL is a national and international platform for nurses to engage and advocate for nursing’s role in influencing and directly impacting health and the healthcare ecosystem through innovation and entrepreneurship. Nurses are on the front lines, working with all healthcare team members to keep patients and the community safe. For more information about SONSIEL, please visit https://sonsiel.org/. Follow SONSIEL on LinkedIn (@SONSIEL), X (@SONSIELNurse), Facebook (@SONSIELnurse) and Instagram  (SONSIELNURSE).


ABOUT ALL IN: WELLBEING FIRST FOR HEALTHCARE

ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare, led by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, is a coalition of national organizations committed to advancing a state where the healthcare workforce’s wellbeing is prioritized, and individual health workers feel valued and supported so they can sustain their sense of purpose and meaning in their work. Coalition members include AHIP, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, American Nurses Foundation, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, CAA Foundation, CHARM, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, FIGS, Heart of Safety Coalition, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Moral Injury of Healthcare, National Medical Association, National Black Nurses Association, Medicine Forward, Philippine Nurses Association of America, The Physicians Foundation, the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare and Thrive Global.

Nico Sciasci
SONSIEL
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