Scott James, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, and Karen Schoonmaker, MSN, RN, CPPS, Executive Director of Quality, Patient Safety and Patient Experience and Magnet Program Director, represented Lahey Clinic at the Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship 2025-2026 Showcase.
The year long fellowship, powered by Penn Nursing and the Wharton School, brings together nurse leaders from health systems across the country. Fellows use human centered design and design thinking methodologies to identify persistent healthcare challenges and develop practical solutions, starting with the people closest to the problem.
James and Schoonmaker focused their project on a common source of friction in inpatient care: communication between nurses and surgical residents. Important updates can easily become delayed or difficult to prioritize during a busy shift, creating gaps that affect both care teams and patients.
Their solution is a secure communication platform designed to streamline collaboration between inpatient nurses and surgical residents. By helping ensure the right information reaches the right person at the right time, the tool aims to cut down on unnecessary back and forth and support faster decision making for clinicians and patients alike.
The project was one of thirteen presented at the close of the fellowship, alongside teams from health systems including Cleveland Clinic, Penn Medicine, and Yale New Haven Health. Each team spent the year listening to frontline staff, defining challenges, and testing ideas before bringing a finished concept to the showcase.
The fellowship reflects a broader theme across this year's cohort. Nurses are often the first to notice where systems break down, and the closest to designing what fixes them. James and Schoonmaker's work adds to a growing body of nurse led innovation aimed at making care safer and more connected, both at Lahey and across the country.
