4 Recent Stories On Nurse Innovators

Several nurses have been in the news lately for their creative medical innovations or entrepreneurship and philanthropic efforts aimed at improving the healthcare experience for patients and clinicians. 

Four stories to know:

1. Barbara Wadsworth, DNP, RN, COO and chief nursing officer at Radnor Township, Pa.-based Main Line Health, invented a fall-injury-prevention device. The health system has applied for a patent for the device, which is a portable airbag that is deployed if a sensor detects a patient is falling.

2. Hilary Rogers, RN, a nurse at Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Health System, launched an initiative to give hospitalized COVID-19 patients care packages supported by community donations, local NBC affiliate WRCB reported Oct. 25. The initiative started at Erlanger East Hospital in Chattanooga and has since expanded to several other hospitals in the system. 

3. Marilyn Filter, PhD, RN, associate professor at University of Michigan-Flint's School of Nursing, and Lyn Behnke, DNP, an assistant professor of nursing at the college, invented a new scope to make vaginal and rectal exams less invasive. The two nurses have spent the last two and one-half years developing the prototype and are now looking at starting clinical trials. 

4. Stephanie White, RN, on Oct. 23 opened a scrub apparel shop in Chesapeake, Va., that features diverse styles of scrubs, along with other medical accessories and personal protective equipment, according to Inside Business.