The HIVE gives nurses a voice in health-care innovation

After a successful first event in January, the University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing’s Health Systems Transformation Initiative (The HIVE) is returning for a second gathering June 3. 

The HIVE Summit: From Dialogue to Design aims to deepen transdisciplinary collaborations and continue to lay the groundwork for The HIVE’s strategic direction. 

“We want to see more nurses involved in decision-making that affects them and their patients,” says initiative manager Suzanna Crawford, BSc’11, BN’13, MN’20. “Nurses are strong leaders and patient advocates. They spend more time face-to-face with patients than most other health-care professionals. We want to bring nurses’ voices and innovative solutions to the forefront of care.” 

A lot of nurses don’t see themselves as innovators, despite them making daily innovations at the bedside, in research and in academia, Crawford says. 

“Nurses are trusted leaders equipped with the experience, knowledge and skills to transform health systems,” she says. “The HIVE offers an exciting opportunity to change the way nurses see themselves and facilitate nurse-led initiatives to the forefront of health and health care.”  

The HIVE is a nurse-led initiative to co-create and mobilize innovative, evidence-informed solutions that promote health and health-care accessibility. It encourages transdisciplinary collaboration, inviting students, faculty and staff from any faculty and department to work with nurses. 

On Jan 9, The HIVE hosted Health Innovated — A Transdisciplinary Strategy Activation event. More than 50 attendees including nurses, transdisciplinary students and colleagues, patients, community organizations, and industry partners, along with representatives of 12 faculties/departments and 14 external organizations, engaged in “strategy-activation sessions” to co-create a vision for the future of health and accessible health care. The event was funded by an Initiating Connector Grant through the Office of the Vice-President (Research), Transdisciplinary Scholarship. 

The HIVE’s next event, scheduled for June 3 at the Hunter Student Commons, will see a deeper discussion of how the initiative can best support nurse-led innovations at the local and global scale. 

Guided by expert facilitator Dr. Tracie Risling, PhD, an associate professor with UCalgary Nursing, the event will kick off with a world café-style conversation diving into health and health-systems challenges. 

For the event’s second half, attendees will be invited to co-design a solution to an identified challenge, facilitated by Houston Peschl, BA’98, MBA’10, associate professor (teaching) in entrepreneurship and innovation at the Haskayne School of Business. 

Like the January event, there will be time for participants to network with different thought leaders in health care. Crawford hopes to keep the momentum from The HIVE’s first event, igniting conversation about health systems transformation and the pivotal role nurses have at and beyond the bedside.

The upcoming event will once again be funded by the Consolidated Connect Grant, also through the Office of the Vice-President (Research), Transdisciplinary Scholarship. Learn more about The HIVE and register for the free half-day event.