Nurses have a unique set of strengths when it comes to innovation and spinning our ventures — but they also have a unique set of barriers. Although these barriers can be downplayed by others in the entrepreneurial space, they’re real, and some are specific to nursing.
The barriers center around five issues:
- Personal responsibilities (family, schooling)
- Time (away from clinical responsibilities)
- Funding
- Mentorship
- Education
Personal Responsibilities
The personal responsibilities portion of this is complex and multifaceted. Nursing is predominantly a cis-female profession, with up to 85% identifying as such, and women are still the primary caregivers in families. Data from the Gender Equity Policy Institute highlight some startling realities:
- “Women spend twice as much time as men taking care of children.
- Mothers put in the equivalent of a full-time job — 37 hours — every week on unpaid care and household work.
- Mothers have 41% less free time than fathers.
- Working mothers do twice as much housework as men on days they work.”
In addition, data show that working women provide an additional 20 hours of unpaid care per week to other extended family members — up to 50% more than male caregivers.
When it comes to furthering one’s education, women are cited as the vast majority of nurses in graduate programs, up to 85% of those enrolled. Although there are no data on how many of those nurses are also working full- or part-time, it’s suggested that most are doing so.
As of 2024, close to 73% of RNs have a bachelor’s degree or higher; and the rate of nurses advancing their education is on the rise with an average 6% increase in graduate-level enrollment over the last 2 years.
Time
That’s why time away from clinical responsibilities serves as a key pillar of nurses’ success in spinning out innovations. Yet nurses who work primarily at the bedside generally don’t get protected time to work on other projects. However, many new studies support the need for this crucial element. One such study highlights “protected time” as essential to the nursing innovation ecosystem.
In their study, Da Costa and Da Costa confirmed that the most significant barrier to nursing innovation is lack of time. “Across studies examining innovation, evidence-based practice, and practice change, nurses consistently identify competing clinical responsibilities as a significant obstacle to engaging in improvement and innovation activities.”
Those structural and gender barriers aside, to mitigate barriers of funding, mentorship, and education, the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing recently released an Innovation Accelerator guide to help other institutions better support their nurses in these areas.
Funding
Funding is a no-brainer; you can’t create new products or move any new idea forward in healthcare, or beyond, without proper funding. Organizations that provide startup funds to nurse-led innovation ventures do more than show organizational support; they show organizational investment. Yet, a diverse funding portfolio requires more than just organizational funding; teams also need to understand the innovation and entrepreneurial landscape, including pitch competitions, other funding programs, and how to connect with venture capitalists and foundations. Money not only makes the world go round, but it also drives healthcare and the innovation ecosystem.
Mentorship
That said, money isn’t everything, nor is it the most crucial factor in the success of nurse-led innovations and ventures. That would be mentorship. Mentorship begins with individuals who have the lived experience, knowledge, connections, and resources specific to the needs of the nurse-led teams. Mentorship can come from within nursing, but it’s generally more useful when it comes from outside nursing.
Importantly, mentorship should help nurses feel confident in their innovation work. Although no real data on this exist, very few nurses have ever tried to take an idea and scale it up. The international organization dedicated to nurse innovators and entrepreneurs, the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, and Leaders (SONSIEL), has a membership of over 1,100. In a profession of close to 5 million in the United States, that’s just 0.012%; and that number is all members globally, not specifically nurses in the United States who’ve scaled an innovation or spun out a startup. That number obviously doesn’t capture all nurses innovating, just those who’ve become members of the organization.
According to a Nurse.org survey, 75% of nurses “believe they personally possess the skills required to implement innovations.” However, 30% stated they would have no idea where to go if they had an innovative solution.
That’s why mentorship is so crucial. Nurses don’t know what they don’t know in the innovation and entrepreneurial space. For that reason, they frequently don’t feel confident in their abilities. Meeting with teams, providing reassurance, laying out next steps, identifying facilitators and barriers, and discussing what’s known and unknown—that’s the secret sauce of helping nurse-led teams move forward. Although not so secret. Studies show that mentored startups are more successful at raising funds and have increased longevity.
Education
As stated, nurses aren’t generally taught innovation methodology or entrepreneurship in their educational programs, which is why training specific to these processes is the final pillar in this multipronged approach. Targeted educational sessions and resources are key to helping nurse innovators and entrepreneurs not only understand the new area they’re operating in, but also how to speak the language. Topics can include intellectual property, business modeling, customer discovery, value proposition and pricing, go-to-market strategy, and so much more.
Thanks to the American Nurses Association and others, educating nurses around I&E topics isn’t just possible, it’s also easy to do. For nurses and nurse leaders interested in learning more, check out the Penn Nursing Innovation website for programs such as the Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship, the Summer Innovation Institute, the Design Thinking for Health platform created in partnership with the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation, and other resources. In addition, SONSIEL offers other workshops and programs specific to entrepreneurship for nurses.
The data are clear. The blueprint is written. We know what makes nurse-led innovation teams successful.
A recent report from Nurse.org showed that “of 86 nurse-founded healthcare companies…45% reached scale, defined as 51+ employees, an acquisition, or $1 million in verified funding.” That 45% is exceptional in the startup world — where the rate is often 10% to 20%!
Investing in nursing innovation with dedicated time, mentorship, education, and funds lowers barriers and builds a solid foundation for success. It really is that simple.
Marion Leary PhD, MPH, RN is an innovation methodologist and the Director of Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
