November 14, 2024
Location
Conference Room JCP 2415 in the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center.
(Take Elevator F to 2nd floor.)
200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
About the Event
Join us for the 2024 Iowa Nurse Innovators Seminar and Pitch Competition, where seasoned nurse innovators will share their stories, and emerging nurse innovators will pitch their ideas!
The event will feature a keynote by Abby Hess, a Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Researcher, and Intrapreneur from Cincinnati, Ohio, a roundtable with graduates of the Iowa Nurse Innovators program, and a pitch competition. The competition will conclude with an awards ceremony and networking.
Whether you're a nurse, healthcare professional, innovator, or passionate about advancing patient care, this is a unique opportunity to witness nurse-led innovation in action. RSVP to attend the event here.
Schedule of Events
- Keynote: 1:00-1:40pm
- Nurse Innovators Roundtable: 1:40-2:00pm
- Pitch Competition: 2:15-4:15pm
- Awards and Networking: 4:30-5:00pm
Meet the Speakers
Abby Hess, APRN, DNP
Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Researcher & Intrapreneur
Abby Hess, APRN, DNP is a nurse practitioner and clinical researcher at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati. Clinically, Abby works with the Department of Anesthesiology, blending patient care with research and innovation projects focused on reducing preoperative anxiety. She was awarded the first Johnson and Johnson Nurses Innovate Quickfire Challenge, supporting the creation of a patented breathing-controlled video game device that's designed to ease anxiety for kids before surgery. She co-chairs the American Nurses Association's Innovation Advisory Committee for Technology and Devices. Abby is currently partnering with Cincinnati Children's chief innovation officer to develop a program to support clinical innovation, empowering frontline clinicians to drive meaningful change in health care.
Allison Hurt
Through her role with the Nurse Innovators Program, Allie provides support to nurses at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, as well as across the state of Iowa. She assists nurses with identifying, developing, and nurturing innovative ideas from concept to prototype across the widely diverse field of nursing.
Prior to joining UI Ventures, Allie spent six years as an inpatient nurse working on both the Burn ICU/Trauma Intermediate Unit, as well as the last four years in the Medical Intensive Care Unit. She also maintains membership in the STAR (Skin Team Advocate and Resource.”) shared governance committee.
Allie received her ADN from Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA and her BSN and MSN from Western Governors University.
Julie Boothby
Nursing Practice Leader, Medical Surgical Services at University of Iowa Health Care
Nurse Innovator
Julie Boothby is a Nursing Practice Leader at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. With over twenty-two years of acute care experience, Julie assures standard of care delivery and competency at the meso/macro system level for the medical surgical services division. She provides leadership for nursing practice based on systemic evaluation, evidence-based practice, and research.
Julia Langin
RN, MSN, CWON, CMSRN
Julia Langin started working at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 2002 as a nursing assistant on the GI Surgery Unit while attending the University of Iowa, College of Nursing. Julia continued working at UIHC after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and then after becoming a Certified Wound and Ostomy Nurse. She received her Master of Science in Nursing degree at Walden University in the online environment while working as a Nurse Clinician then clinical coordinator with the Wound and Ostomy Nursing Service at UIHC. In 2020, Julia became a Nursing Practice Leader in the Nursing Quality Department over hospital acquired pressure injury prevention (HAPI) while continuing as the lead for the Adult Wound and Ostomy Nursing Service.
Staff Nurse, Perioperative Division, Main Operating Rooms, Team 6 General, Burn, Trauma, Colorectal, Bariatric, Robotic, and Plastic Surgery
Nurse Innovator 2023 Pitch Deck Competition 2nd Place Award Recipient
Courtney Smith has spent nearly 5 years as a Staff Nurse in the Main Operating Rooms at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and co-chairs The Perioperative Division Staff Council. Prior to finding her home at UIHC, Courtney obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from The University of Toledo in Ohio. Upon graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree, Courtney spent 3 years working in long-term nursing care. She obtained her Associates Degree in Nursing and stepped right in to her role as a nurse in the Operating Room, where she spent 4 years gaining experience at St. Luke’s Hospital, a level 2 trauma facility. Courtney sought out to further her experience and fulfilled an extended travel nurse assignment in Greenville, South Carolina for 4 months, where she assisted in the expansion and operations at an outpatient surgery center. When the time felt right to plant roots, Courtney returned to Iowa and remains satisfyingly challenged with all that the Level 1 Trauma Facility has to offer in UIHC. The past decade of specializing in operative care allows Courtney to bring a wealth of knowledge from the surgical field to the field of innovation.
Pitch Competition Judges
Jon Darsee, Chief Innovation Officer
Jon is the University of Iowa’s first Chief Innovation Officer. His responsibilities include economic development efforts such as UI Ventures, protostudios, UI Research Park, MADE, and TRI. His focus is on developing a foundation built around 3 pillars to support faculty and staff entrepreneurial and commercialization activity: a concierge service to connect and coordinate resources, greater access to funding sources for entrepreneurs and business expertise to support addressing unmet needs in fields across campus. Two targeted strategic areas of focus in alignment with State of Iowa initiatives are Medtech and Edtech.
Jon has more than 20 years experience as an executive in the healthcare industry. Most recently, Jon worked for iRhythm Technologies, a company that develops digital bio-sensing technology and cloud-based data analytics to diagnose heart arrhythmias. He joined the San Francisco–based iRhythm in 2007. Birthed from Stanford University’s renowned Byers Center for Bio Design technology incubator, Jon joined the start up when it had three employees. He retired from iRhythm in 2017 after helping build it into a 600-employee company with roughly $100 million in annual revenue, after having created and executed the reimbursement strategy that was pivotal to the firm’s successful IPO in 2016.
Matt Warrens, Venture Capitalist in Residence
Matt Warrens has over twenty-five years of experience in the healthcare industry. As an experienced innovation leader, he is driven to transform health care into a science of prevention and a culture focused on wellness that improves the quality of life. Matt has strong operations experience focusing on identifying, developing, and implementing new products and services for health systems. His ability to identify transformational clinical and operational technologies serves to bring together providers, payors and entrepreneur partnerships that aid in accelerating the transition to value-based care.
Abby Hess, APRN, DNP
Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Researcher & Intrapreneur
Abby Hess, APRN, DNP is a nurse practitioner and clinical researcher at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati. Clinically, Abby works with the Department of Anesthesiology, blending patient care with research and innovation projects focused on reducing preoperative anxiety. She was awarded the first Johnson and Johnson Nurses Innovate Quickfire Challenge, supporting the creation of a patented breathing-controlled video game device that's designed to ease anxiety for kids before surgery. She co-chairs the American Nurses Association's Innovation Advisory Committee for Technology and Devices. Abby is currently partnering with Cincinnati Children's chief innovation officer to develop a program to support clinical innovation, empowering frontline clinicians to drive meaningful change in health care.
Emily Ward, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, CCRN
Emily Ward is the Associate Chief Nursing Officer at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, North Liberty Campus. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Millikin University, her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Iowa, and Doctor of Nursing Practice at the University of Iowa College of Nursing, with a focus on Health Systems. She holds an advance nursing executive certification and is additionally certified as an Acute/Critical Care Knowledge Professional. She has held numerous leadership positions within UI Health Care, including nurse manager, director, and Associate Chief Nursing Officer for the Adult hospital at the University campus. She is a member of multiple professional organizations: American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL), Iowa Organization of Nurse Leaders (IONL), American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN), and Sigma Theta Tau. Over the course of her career, she has given numerous local, regional, national, and international presentations on a variety of healthcare and leadership topics. Among the awards received, two highlights include being named one of the 100 Great Iowa Nurses and a 2024 Corridor Business Journal Forty Under 40 honoree.
Pitch Competition Application
The Pitch Competition is open to any nurse innovator currently engaged in the Nurse Innovators program. Applications open October 1st and should be submitted using the form below. Once accepted, applicants will receive coaching, including a sample pitch deck and video. Submissions will be reviewed and revised with guidance from our expert panel before the competition.
Pitch Competition Awards:
- 1st Place: $20,000
- 2nd Place: $10,000
- 3rd Place: $5,000
- Honorable Mention: $1,000