Lee’s School Of Nursing Holds Shark Tank, Innovation Expo

Lee University’s School of Nursing held its third Nursing Innovation Expo as part of the Leadership and Professional Practice course for senior nursing students. 

Prior to the event, 53 nursing students divided into 11 teams and were asked to identify a problem they had noticed during their clinical rotations. During the Expo, a two-day Shark-Tank style competition, students presented their ideas to a panel of “Sharks” (guest judges) from Lee’s campus and the Cleveland community. 

“Each semester, I am amazed and encouraged by the depth and creativity of the students,” said Amy Blake, associate lecturer in nursing at Lee. “They are developing their eye for quality improvement measures and providing viable solutions. I feel like this is just a glimpse of how our graduates will impact nursing.” 

Lee faculty and staff judges included Dr. Julie Campbell, Dr. Sara Campbell, Brian Conn, Dr. Shane Griffith, Misty Humberger, Dr. Brenda Jones, Dr. Dewayne Thompson, and Dr. Charlotte Webb. Other judges included Mike Allen, director of emergency services at Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, Georgia; Kimberly Brown, clinical nurse specialist at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga; Jessica Holladay, nurse director of the Trauma and Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Erlanger Health System Hospital in Chattanooga; and Toni Karimian, clinical nurse specialist at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger. 

“In healthcare, nurses are the hub of interprofessional teams, which gives them a unique perspective to recognize problems,” said Dr. Amy Jo Perry, assistant professor of nursing at Lee. “While nurses have always been creative problem solvers, we want to give our graduates the skills to implement those solutions and lead meaningful change initiatives.” 

The students’ ideas were scored based on the problem and necessity, innovation, details, feasibility, professionalism, and answers to the judge’s questions. 

Students presented a variety of ideas, including “Spanish for All,” “Pharm2-D2,” and “IMPACT,” among others. 

The winners of the first day’s expo were the members of “Unlock Healthcare,” an app intended to help individuals understand personal health information by providing patients with a user-friendly, simplistic interface where they can access personalized health information, diagnoses, and medications. The app would  also include notifications that would remind the users when they need to take a certain medication at the appropriate time. 

Team participants of “Unlock Healthcare” included Abby Watlington, Cole Wiggins, Olivia Williams, and McKenzie Willis. 

“The Innovation Expo was an exciting and empowering project to work on alongside my peers and professors throughout the semester,” said Ms. Watlington. “This experience will impact my future in nursing by giving me the tools and abilities to identify areas of practice that could be done more efficiently or safely and taking steps to make a difference for the good of both patients and healthcare professionals.” 

The second day’s winning team’s project was “I.V.I.C.,” an app that allows nurses to monitor their patients' IV pumps from their phones. Team participants included Alberto Dominguez, Sonnet Gustafson, Amy Harrell, Sarah Harris, and Lily Hawkins. 

“Patients often use their call light to report an IV pump alarming, and this allows the nurse to know the cause of that alarm,” says Ms. Hawkins. “This is helpful to nurses because it can save them time and help them to delegate resources more efficiently.” 

For more information about the School of Nursing, visit http://www.leeuniversity.edu/academics/nursing/.