How do we innovate after COVID?

What does innovation in health care education look like in a post-COVID world? Clearly, we are not through the woods, but we have learned we can - and must - be adaptable, because at the beginning of the pandemic, there was simply no other choice. The question now becomes: how do we best take lessons learned and use them to drive forward a new era in nursing and health innovation education? Perhaps more importantly, how do we move from talking to acting?

In late August, ASU’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation hosted our first event at our ASU California Center in Los Angeles. The program consisted of a panel of industry experts having a free-flowing discussion around the topic of innovation in health care – breaking through bureaucracy in health care higher ed and focusing on the intricacies of what our clinical partners say they need from us to ensure a trained, skilled and adaptive future workforce. It was the beginning of what must be an ongoing conversation, and it’s a conversation that we, as health educators, must have together.

Here at Arizona State University, we take great pride in being recognized as U.S. News and World Report’s Most Innovative College eight years running. We’re also immensely proud that Edson College’s BSN program rose to the top 30 in this year’s rankings. But the truth of the matter is, rankings reflect a snapshot in time, and the term “innovation” is, to us, more of a mindset and a challenge!  At the heart of it all, innovation is about creating and embracing change — change that drives forward impactful thoughts, concepts and processes, not just on paper or in roundtable discussions, but in action. Successful innovation is about incorporating this mindset into how you research, think, teach, discover and evolve.    

So the question remains: how do we incorporate innovation as a value in health care education? We start by giving faculty and students the tools, resources, and support they need to think outside traditional paradigms. We keep the door open to new ideas and concepts. We move away from the idea of “that’s the way we’ve always done it” to embracing the idea of “what else might work better?” This is how meaningful change evolves.

I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with this group of talented and insightful individuals, and I would like to issue a group challenge. What does your innovation look like in practice? What positive outcomes have you seen? What obstacles do you encounter? What can we do collectively to support one another’s efforts in this critical space?

In spring 2023, I plan to host an informal, virtual roundtable discussion on the topic of innovation in health care education. The discussion will be simple: what are the best new ideas, and how do we move them from ideas into deployable solutions that advance our profession? If you’d like to participate in a panel discussion, please let me know. I look forward to seeing what we each bring to the table.