Abstract
Background: Design Thinking is gaining recognition as an innovative and creative approach to problem solving. Though nurse leaders need problem solving tools to address health care challenges, Design Thinking concepts are not commonly taught in nursing education. To introduce graduate level nursing students to Design Thinking, we held an educational activity focused on this content as part of required coursework.
Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to describe and compare outcomes of a Design Thinking educational activity on students' perceived knowledge, confidence, and benefits to nursing practice.
Methods: Graduate level nursing students participated in a 3-hour educational activity. After the session, students completed an anonymous 10-item survey of their perceptions of the educational activity.
Results: Students reported increased knowledge and confidence of communication strategies and Design Thinking concepts that would benefit their practice.
Conclusion: Nursing programs should include Design Thinking teaching and learning strategies in their curricula. Nurse educators can use examples shared in this presentation to replicate in their own programs.
Notes
References:
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Smiechowski J, Mercia M, Kemp K, Oddone Paolucci E, Santana M, Kachra R. Using Design-Thinking to investigate and improve patient experience. Patient Exp J. 2021;8(3):24-44. doi:10.35680/2372-0247.1633.
Holt JM, Talsma AN, Woehrle LM, Klingbeil C, Avdeev I. Fostering innovation and Design Thinking in graduate programs. Nurse Educ. 2022;47(6):356-357. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000001206.
Przybilla L, Klinker K, Wiesche M, Krcmar H A human-centric approach to digital innovation projects in health care: learnings from applying design thinking. In Proc Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems; 2018. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2018/226
Grau SL, Rockett T. Creating student-centred experiences: using design thinking to create student engagement. J Entrep. 2022;31(2 Suppl):S135–S159. doi:10.1177/097135572211074.
Meloncon LK. Patient experience design: expanding usability methodologies for health care. Commun Des Q. 2017;5(2):20-28. doi:10.1145/3131201.3131203.
Tracey MJ, Baaki J. Cultivating Professional Identity in Design: Empathy Creativity, Collaboration, and Seven More Cross-disciplinary Skills. Routledge; 2023.
Baaki J, Tracey MW, Bailey E. Exploring the two sides of a moment of use approach to design. TechTrends. 2023;67(3):572-582. doi:10.1007/s11528-022-00828-4.
Glăveanu V. Possibility spaces: an invitation to foster transformative experiences of the possible. Possibility Stud Soc. 2023;1(4):436-450. doi:10.1177/275386992312145.
Perrmann-Graham J, Liu J, Cangioni C, Spataro SE. Fostering psychological safety: using improvisation as a team building tool in management education. Int J Manag Educ. 2022;20(2). doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2022.100617.
Hishon K Improv Game: Yes, And… and No, But… Accessed July 1, 2024. https://www.theatrefolk.com/blog/improv-game-yes-and-and-no-but
Sharkiya SH. Quality communication can improve patient-centred health outcomes among older patients: a rapid review. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023;23(1):886. doi:10.1186/s12913-023-09869-8.
Aaronson EL, White BA, Black L, Sonis JD, Mort EA. Using design thinking to improve patient-provider communication in the emergency department. Qual Manag Health Care. 2020;29(1):30-34. doi:10.1097/QMH.0000000000000239.
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Sigma Membership
Epsilon Chi
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Curriculum Development, Teaching and Learning Strategies, Faculty Development, Nursing Education, Advances in Education, Design Thinking
Recommended Citation
Hawkins, Janice Evans; Tremblay, Beth; and Hawkins, Robert Joseph, "Impact of a Design Thinking Workshop on Students' Knowledge, Confidence, and Perceived Benefits" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 29.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/29
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-11-18
Impact of a Design Thinking Workshop on Students' Knowledge, Confidence, and Perceived Benefits
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Background: Design Thinking is gaining recognition as an innovative and creative approach to problem solving. Though nurse leaders need problem solving tools to address health care challenges, Design Thinking concepts are not commonly taught in nursing education. To introduce graduate level nursing students to Design Thinking, we held an educational activity focused on this content as part of required coursework.
Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to describe and compare outcomes of a Design Thinking educational activity on students' perceived knowledge, confidence, and benefits to nursing practice.
Methods: Graduate level nursing students participated in a 3-hour educational activity. After the session, students completed an anonymous 10-item survey of their perceptions of the educational activity.
Results: Students reported increased knowledge and confidence of communication strategies and Design Thinking concepts that would benefit their practice.
Conclusion: Nursing programs should include Design Thinking teaching and learning strategies in their curricula. Nurse educators can use examples shared in this presentation to replicate in their own programs.
Description
Nurse leaders need problem solving tools to address complex health care challenges. Design Thinking has been used successfully for creative problem solving that contributes to better patient outcomes and positive experiences in health care. We embedded a Design Thinking workshop focused on communication skills and ideation into a graduate level nursing course. This presentation shares the workshop impact on graduate students' perceived knowledge, confidence, and benefits to nursing practice.