Background Nurses often identify unmet clinical needs through patient care but lack the resources or technical expertise to develop scalable solutions. Nurse-engineer partnerships provide an opportunity to combine clinical insight with engineering expertise to improve healthcare technologies, workflows, and patient outcomes. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe two nurse-led innovation case studies developed through interdisciplinary collaboration with engineering partners to address unmet clinical needs. Procedures Two case studies are presented: (1) development of a high-fidelity nasal bridle securement training model to improve procedural education and skill transfer for nurses, and (2) development of a urinary drainage bag securement device to enhance patient ambulation while decreasing infection risk. Interdisciplinary teams consisting of nurses, engineers, and designers, who used human-centered design, iterative prototyping, and formative testing to guide product innovation. Outcomes The nasal-skull training model improved training experiences and received positive feedback from nurses regarding realism and value. The Bag Below Bladder (b3) Buddy advanced to an alpha prototype and demonstrated feasibility for supporting urinary drainage bag securement during mobility. Both projects showcase the importance of human-centered design and interdisciplinary collaboration throughout development. Implications for Practice Nurse-engineer partnerships may improve the design of healthcare technologies by ensuring solutions are grounded in real-world clinical workflows and patient needs. Conclusion Nurse-engineer partnerships can translate frontline clinical challenges into practical, patient-centered innovations that support nursing practice and patient safety.
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Meade et al. (2026) studied this question.
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