The Healthcare Innovation Lab often utilizes the concept of human-centered research and design to influence the way we develop the projects we take on.
Human-centered design is an approach to problem-solving that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. In health care, it is imperative we always work toward solving our complex problems for our patients and communities.
Recently, with collaboration from nursing leadership and our user experience researchers, we used human-centered design learnings to help create a candidate profile for our virtual nursing program. This profile is a usable reference tool for both our nursing leaders and potential candidates as we work to staff our virtual inpatient nursing team. When considering the benefits and challenges of a virtual nursing position, we examined traits and qualifications that would make a successful virtual inpatient nurse (VRN), as well as the components of the position that would be appealing to these candidates to help them be successful in their new roles. Using human-centered design concepts allow us to consider the human element to our roles, ultimately making our organization better for the humans we care for.
