Disseminating an invention
This post is a more informal one and more of a very sit-down with a cup of coffee type conversation. By the way, the picture above is from flowers I received in Feb 2023, around the time I started feeling creative.
Thank you for reading this post, don’t forget to subscribe!As mentioned in the previous blog posts, I’m working on an analytical tool to help with pressure injury prevention. I wanted to shine the light on the topic of treading tactfully throughout the organizational hierarchy when trying to push an invention forward. A lot of leaders will be the wings that spring you forward when you have a new idea. I have to say I have encountered a fair amount of inspiring and transformational leaders. There may be a few, however that may unintentionally (I like to think the best of people) hinder your path to expanding an invention thru their resistance to your idea, or their lack of control of it.
In the Beginning
When I first started my journey with this idea in January of 2023 it was simply that, an idea. It was derived from my DNP project from just a couple of years prior. The idea was to put my already proven project into practice not just as a project, but truly as a change in practice in nursing. I had been listening to a lot of self-development podcasts and had listened (I to multitask using Audible) to a few books. One thing I knew to do was to find a mentor or someone who had ‘done it’ before and learn from their experience. I found an exceptional leader in the nursing world who had created an analytical tool and also works with significant leaders in the field of my idea topic. I got brave, sent an email requesting some time to meet, and she was very gracious enough to grant me the time. I was ecstatic. I have met with her 3 times by now. I presented a summary of my DNP project, my idea to move it forward, and she granted me the gift of her mentorship in that moment. I clearly remember her talking about first protecting my work since there will be people who just like to take credit for what they have not worked on themselves. She shared that in her academic organization, there was an office that assists with inventions, copyrighting ideas, etc. I searched for the same and found a similar department at my organization. By the way, I have worked at my hospital for almost 2 decades and never knew this office existed. Yes my organization is huge, but I also don’t think nursing promotes entrepreneurship and innovation enough. We like to promote it internally and use it for the benefit of our patients, but it is not wrong to also attempt to put ideas into fruition with the mindset of business-like innovation. My goal from the beginning was to create something that our patients would benefit from, that would be a time saver for leadership, and one that could also be outsourced outside of my own organization. This is what my mentor did. In one of her articles, she also talked about how we (nursing) don’t tend to have the mindset of entrepreneurship because out of the kindness of our hearts, we are simply here to serve. While this is true, there is also much unpaid time to be put in and much to give before one can ‘receive’. There is a feeling of guilt that may come when trying to commercialize or monetize something in this field because I too, think it should just be done for the good of humanity. Anything good and kind should be done for the good of humanity, I agree. My relationship with money though, has also changed over time. Money is not to be made from a point of greediness (in my mind), but for ease of life of you and your family. It also serves to help others. Ultimately, I am at peace in however this turns out since it comes from a place of wanting to help our patients. I have learned to trust the process.
First Steps
I have been working with this office at my organization and we have started the copyright process. While this idea or invention is ‘in the works’ I reference to it with a copyright statement that includes the name of my hospital as I was advised. Because I am using internal data, it also belongs to my organization of course. I was informed that any commercialization of inventions yields a 50% profit for the inventor and the other half for the organization. I have an MD liaison with whom I meet about once a month to update him on my progress. He guides me as to what my next steps could be. One of his sound suggestions last year was to translate my idea into an analytical tool that could be outsourced. I reached out to an internal analyst and we have been working on this tool since June of 2023. It is now April of 2024 and we continue to work on it at least once a week. The analyst staff are not always too familiar with our EMR platforms so close collaboration is necessary. Our analysts often work with leaders on different projects or leadership needs in terms of data.
My last conversation with my MD liaison did include the fact that some inventions take years to come into full fruition and commercialization. My main goal is to make a meaningful contribution to nursing first within my organization but secondly, to the rest of the world if possible.
Gaining Buy-In
Without a doubt I would say that the first step is gaining buy-in from stakeholders who will benefit from your idea. I have probably presented my project more than 20 times to different leaders and stakeholders. By now, I have put in many hours of work in helping other units with auditing and providing data from my analytic tool. They love the free help without the expectation of having to give something back. I enjoy helping and it serves the purpose of growing my ‘buy-in’. It is honestly my passion. There is a sense of fulfillment that comes from helping and you already know this if you are in healthcare.
Current Status
Currently, I am working with a mix of units including ICUs and med-surg floors. I share the data from my tool and they as a unit work on the collective goal that is pressure injury prevention. I have also met with pertinent leaders in Quality, Patient Safety, and Skin Committee.
All I will say is that by the time I encountered what I perceived as barriers in moving forward with this idea, it was too late for the resistance to win. I was blessed to already have some buy-in and acceptance from other leaders for me to disappear or hand over the lead of what I was trying to do. I remain tactful, courteous, and willing to help and follow ‘rules’ while having enough stance to continue my project. You also have to be willing to speak up when a process or dictated one-person rule does not align with the vision of the organization. Things tend to fall into place thereafter.