Keynoter Love encourages innovation

Speaking at the AONL virtual conference, Rebecca Love, MSN, RN, noted a huge change due to the pandemic. “COVID has forced us to break down the walls and barriers that have basically stagnated the way [health care operated] in the course of the last few decades, and sometimes in a matter of hours, in a matter of weeks,” she said. “This has never before happened.” Love is president of the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Leaders. In her view, if there ever was a time to innovate to save patients’ lives, it is now—during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said nurses on the front line have already contributed innovations, such as employing technology to connect patients and families, and using prone positioning to help patients breathe. But nurses don’t often think of themselves as innovators, she says, despite having a model in Florence Nightingale, who founded the profession of nursing by challenging the status quo of medicine. She urged nurses to influence decision-making and shape the future of health care.