What is this?
My name is Kelly Landsman and I am a nurse engineer – a biomedical engineer that has trained as a nurse. I initially developed this site in 2019 as a place to share my story, my thoughts and the information I gathered on combining the work of nursing and engineering.
Back in 2017 when I decided that to improve my work as a medical device research and development engineer, meant going bedside, I developed an intentional plan to research, develop and test the role of a nurse engineer. At that time, the concept of a nurse engineer existed in articles – but I was unable to find others that had charted the same course. I began by scouring the literature and talking to anyone even remotely involved in the space that would meet with me. Then I got my nursing degree, became a registered nurse, and spent two and a half years bedside. In August 2023, I turned my focus to identifying and executing projects that test the utility and demonstrate benefits of the dual role. That was the plan – but what happened along the way was astounding.
Over the past four years, nursing innovation has exploded, the conversation around nurse – engineer partnerships have advanced, and now academic institutions are opening centers fostering nurse-engineer partnerships. More than one class has now graduated from a dual degree program (biomedical engineering and nursing), and these folks have entered the workforce. In December 2021 UPenn hosted a colloquium to discuss cross-training of nurses as innovative bioengineers. AJN published a series of articles I co-authored with Dr. Karen Guiliano that feature nurse-engineer partnerships. I recently began hosting a monthly call where at least a dozen individuals with degrees in nursing and engineering are invited to meet and discuss their journey. [Link reach out if you’d like to join] In 2021, I had the fortunate opportunity to join the American Nursing Association Innovation Advisory Committee for Technology and Devices that is occupied by incredible nurses who are developing their own patient care devices. In September 2023, the ANA Innovation Enterprise hosted an Innovation Lounge featuring the work of nurse engineers. Meanwhile, many of the device companies I once worked for or competed with as an engineer now state their focus is on including end-users in development of their products.
Indeed, these recent developments verify the need for nursing and engineering.
However, one very critical thing remains…unification. This website is designed to be a forum for nurses, engineers, and nurse engineers to establish nurse-engineering partnership models, to easily find collaborators, and to accelerate their work. I hope that NurseEngineer.com becomes the primary resource for all in the community to utilize in sharing interests, knowledge, and experiences. Included here, as of November 2023, is a starting point built around my journey becoming a nurse engineer. I encourage those in the community share their own journey, their passions and work – that we may build upon and fully embrace the benefits that result when nurses and engineers purposefully partner to solve healthcare problems.
https://nursing.umn.edu/news-events/engineering-nursing-solutions