Employing design thinking methods in nursing to improve patient outcomes

Abstract

Nurses are in a key position between the patient, provider, and the health care system. This position provides them with valuable insight into problems and potential solutions in health care, yet there is little recorded involvement of nurses in product or service development. A five-step process called design thinking has proven successful across multiple settings to generate meaningful solutions that provide value to those directly impacted by a problem. The purpose of this study is to describe the process of design thinking and review how it can be used by nurses for the creation of products and services that will benefit health care systems and improve nursing practice and patient care.