Strengthening the Role of Nurses in Medical Device Development.

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Medical Device Development
• Health Innovation

Background:

• Nurses play a crucial role in healthcare innovation, yet opportunities to involve them in medical device development are limited.
• Existing nursing education programs offer few learning experiences in medical device development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a conceptual guide for nurse educators and researchers.
• To facilitate the engagement of nursing expertise in the medical device development process.

Main Methods:

• A literature review informed the creation of the 'Strengthening the Role of Nurses in Medical Device Development Roadmap' model.
• The model was applied by an academic transdisciplinary team to guide nurse engagement in multidisciplinary medical device design.

Main Results:

• The developed model outlines key stages: needs assessment, brainstorming, feasibility, concept design, and prototyping.
• A case study on improving asthma home-monitoring devices demonstrated the model's practical application.

Conclusions:

• Nurse leaders in academia can utilize the roadmap to effectively engage nurses in early-stage medical device development.
• This framework supports the integration of nursing knowledge into healthcare technology innovation.