Nurses are often the first ones to know about problems that patients encounter in a hospital. Let’s say a patient can’t take a shower because a catheter isn’t water resistant. In one hospital, a nurse already invented a special catheter protector. For the past two years, the MakerNurse initiative has been documenting and archiving ideas from nurses who make things that help them improve patient care. And now, the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston has the first maker-space for nurses, with digital fabrication equipment like laser cutters and 3-D printers, so nurses can design and produce something they’d like to try. So far, 107 nurses in the hospital signed up to be able to use the space, and several ideas were already brought to life, like a shower system for the burn unit and laser-cut bandages for babies under 28 days old.
Maker-space for nurses empowers medical staff to improve healthcare
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