Innovation camp for nursing students: igniting an entrepreneurial spirit in three days
Gunn‐Berit Neergård, Antonella La Rocca
Abstract
The Innovation Camp described in this chapter is offered to third-year nursing students with the aim of making students aware of the need for innovations in healthcare and to help future nurses to identify tasks requiring innovation in their everyday work. This is done by providing students with real-life challenges from external stakeholders. The camp, a mandatory part of the bachelor’s degree in nursing, took the form of a three-day action-based course run at the beginning of the fifth semester. The chapter discusses two aspects of the initiative which generated some frustration and confusion among participants and facilitators: (1) the theoretical background and learning objectives of the camp, and (2) the designed incentives and work efforts. The chapter offers reflections on innovation camps as a means to contribute to the development of an entrepreneurial spirit among nurses, which is an objective at the heart of the ongoing healthcare reforms.