Spencer Hospital – Spark Innovation Workshop

This hands-on Spark Workshop gives clinicians a fast, energizing introduction to innovation in healthcare. Through real examples, simple tools, and a rapid prototyping challenge, participants will experience how small ideas can lead to meaningful change and why every clinician has the capacity to be an innovator.

Participants will receive 2.0 contact hours of continuing education at no cost.

Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Reframe common clinical challenges and workarounds as opportunities for improvement and innovation.
• Define innovation within the context of healthcare and nursing practice.
• Recognize historical and contemporary examples of nurse‑led innovation, including innovations emerging from the Nurse Innovators Program.
• Use key steps in the bio-design process in a hands‑on group activity to rapidly-prototype a simple, tangible solution to a practice challenge.
• Evaluate the prototyping experience to determine how innovation principles can be applied to challenges within the participant’s own practice setting.
• Describe the structure of the Nurse Innovators Program and opportunities participation.

Target Audience

This session is designed for all clinicians and frontline care providers interested in improving care delivery and exploring innovative approaches in their practice. This includes:

• Nurses (RNs, LPNs, APRNs)

• Paramedics and EMTs

• Physicians and advanced practice providers

• Respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech‑language pathologists

• Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians

• Social workers, case managers, and care coordinators

• Quality, safety, and performance improvement professionals

• Clinical educators, preceptors, and leaders

• Any clinician or care team member curious about innovation—no prior experience required

About the Iowa Nurse Innovators Roadshow

The Iowa Nurse Innovators Roadshow is hitting the road for five days of workshops, conversations and inspiration designed to help nurses turn ideas into action and improve health care across Iowa.

Traveling to eight healthcare centers throughout the state, the Roadshow brings innovation directly to nurses and their communities. Each stop will offer hands-on opportunities to explore creative problem-solving, develop promising ideas and connect with others who are working to improve patient care.

Roadshow events will feature Spark Workshops, where participants can build skills and move ideas forward, along with special programming at select locations, including a keynote, an innovation Maker Fair and a culminating pitch event at University of Iowa Health Care.

Learn more at https://innovation.uiowa.edu/nurse-innovators-roadshow