EP. 144: Human-Centered Design in Healthcare: Why Nurses Lead the Best Solutions

Innovation in healthcare works best when nurses are given the time, support, and trust to solve the problems they see every day.

In this episode, Dr. Marion Leary joins Dr. Renee Thompson to discuss how human-centered, equity-centered design thinking can empower healthcare leaders to create more practical solutions. Marion explains why leaders must resist the urge to be immediate "fixers" and instead focus on deeply listening to end-users to ensure they are solving the right problems. She also highlights the Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship, which encourages senior nurse leaders to leverage empathy and co-create workplace improvements for both staff and patients. Ultimately, she emphasizes that truly supporting nurses as innovators requires providing them with dedicated resources, protected time, and well-deserved recognition.

Tune in to learn how healthcare leaders can use design thinking to slow down, listen better, and create solutions that truly work.

About Dr. Marion Leary:

Marion Leary, PhD, MPH, RN, is an expert in innovation methodology, human-centered design, and design thinking in healthcare and nursing. She works to amplify and educate nurses as leaders in health and healthcare innovation.

Dr. Leary leads the national Nurse Innovation Fellowship program, supported by Johnson & Johnson and powered by Penn Nursing and the Wharton School. She is a member of the American Nurses Association’s Innovation Advisory Committee, the University Science Center’s Healthcare Innovation Advisory Committee, and The Nursing Beat Advisory Board. She is also a founding member of the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Leaders.

Dr. Leary is co-President of the Nursing is STEM board, a coalition working to have nursing designated as a STEM field. She also hosts the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing podcast, Amplify Nursing, and the Love n’ Leary Nursing podcast on Nurse.org. 

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What You’ll Learn In This Episode:

• Human-centered design helps healthcare leaders avoid solving the wrong problem by listening to the people closest to the issue.

• Equity-centered design requires leaders to pause, recognize assumptions and power dynamics, and make space for the voices that are often overlooked.

• Nurses are natural problem solvers, but meaningful innovation requires time, resources, and organizational support.

• Design thinking provides nurse leaders with a structured process for developing solutions through empathy, problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and testing.

• Supporting nurses as innovators can strengthen engagement, improve retention, and create healthier workplaces for both nurses and patients.

• Healthcare organizations can create better solutions by trusting nurses, involving end users early, and allowing teams to co-create change together.

Links & Resources:

• Connect with and follow Dr. Marion Leary on LinkedIn.

• Follow the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing on LinkedIn and visit their website.

• Check out the Design Thinking for Health website!

• Check out the 33 Scripts Guide to Address Disruptive Behaviour here!

• Buy Renee Thompson’s book Enough! Eradicating Bullying & Incivility here!

• Grab a copy of Renee Thompson’s book Do No Harm Applies to Nurses Too! here.

• Learn more about the Eradicating Bullying & Incivility eLearning Program here!

Have a question for Renee?

Email us at wecare@healthyworkforceinstitute.com to have your leadership question featured in an upcoming Q&A episode!

Disclosure: The host may be compensated for linking to other sites or for sales of products we link to. As an Amazon Associate, Coffee Break earns from qualifying purchases.

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