A New Approach to New Ideas: The First TNA Hackathon

By Kanaka Sathasivan, MPH

On Nov. 6, Texas Nurses Association hosted our first ever Hackathon, with four teams from across Texas who came together to find innovative ways to tackle challenges!

While nurses have always been innovators, addressing issues in a methodical way that supports creative ideation has not always been encouraged. A hackathon, a portmanteau of hack and marathon, is a high-energy event where people come together to solve problems. Led by nurse innovators Bonnie Clipper, DNP, RN, MA, MBA, FACHE, CENP, and Claudia Q. Perez, MHI, BSN, RN, TNA hackathon attendees developed dozens of ideas and then filtered them to the best candidates.

Getting Creative

The major goal for the half-day event was quantity first, then quality. Perez encouraged all the teams to come up with “creative ideas that inspire everybody to come in and respect everyone’s feelings by embracing their ideas.” She also emphasized that “This isn’t the time to play devil’s advocate.” All ideas were welcome, regardless of the challenges or conflicts they might entail.

Before the event, the teams determined the problem they wanted to solve and were provided with several ideation prompts. Using these prompts in their groups of five, they jumped into the brainstorming process with the help of Clipper and Perez, who rotated through the groups to help them broaden their mindsets.

Due to the event being virtual—and adapted from a methodology usually applied in person—it took some time for the groups to get into the rhythm of collaboration. To get everyone in a more imaginative room, the presenters encouraged participants to put up a fun background on their Zoom video. From the Bat-Signal to fall leaves to European cityscapes and a giant chicken, nurses embraced their sillier side to get their creative juices flowing.

Getting Strategic

Once they got started, Clipper said all the teams had a different approach to ideation: “Some were very scholarly and orderly, and others were very chatty and laughing. They were all engaged and having fun.” Clipper and Perez helped to push back on some of their ideas, and participants said they learned a lot during the process.

The brainstorming time was intended to be a form of divergent thinking: a way to come up with all the possible ways to reach a solution. Perez compared it to casting a wide fishing net. You catch lots of things: the fish you want, some you don’t want, and some things that aren’t even fish. But the wide net will help you think as creatively as possible.

After 90 minutes of ideation, the presenters helped the teams narrow down their solutions using convergent thinking: finding a final solution (or a few possibilities). This is where quality, feasibility and potential positive outcomes come into play. Of the many, many ideas the teams developed, only a few ended up crossing the finish line.

Getting Enthusiastic

All the teams came with different challenges, from a branding and perception issue to scheduling difficulties to streamlining documentation standards. Solutions included building relationships, making better use of state data, using artificial intelligence for predictive analytics, enabling more shared governance and providing legal education to employees.

Ultimately, the goal of the hackathon was to disrupt normal ways of thinking and build excitement for implementing new solutions. In addition to coming up with ideas, participants expressed an appreciation for the networking aspect of the event, having a new methodology to use in other places and being able to collaborate with like-minded people. As one nurse put it: “This was one of the best programs I have been to!”