Design thinking – a five-step, human-centered, iterative process of innovation – has been used for decades in various fields to solve such complex problems, but few studies exist about its use with students earning healthcare degrees. This pilot study was conducted with a group of undergraduate nursing students to better understand how their perspectives about innovation might change over the course of semester in which students were taught how to use design thinking and worked in teams to address specific clinical problems. Researchers used a qualitative descriptive approach with pre-test and post-test surveys containing open-ended questions at the beginning and end of the course. The study showed that using design thinking to address clinical problems was a beneficial intervention that caused many students to re-evaluate the way they described innovation. Many students also became less fearful of failure and bolder about suggesting new approaches to clinical issues.

Authors: Nancy P. Wingo, Allison Jones, Janet Brown, Sigrid Ladores

Published in: Canada International Conference on Education, 2023

• Date of Conference: 26-28 June, 2023
• DOI: 10.20533/CICE.2023.0047
• Electronic ISBN: 978-1-913572-58-7
• Conference Location: Residence and Conference Centre, Toronto, Canada