The Benefits of Nurse-Engineer Partnerships in Healthcare

Healthcare improvements require collaboration, and nurse-engineer partnerships help make that happen. Nurses bring the patient-facing experience, while engineers help design and improve equipment, tech, and systems.

As a nurse, you stay busy. Nurses deliver more services and use more devices than any other healthcare professional. And when they encounter problems, nurses improvise workarounds — hanging IV fluids from curtain rods when poles are scarce, or using tongue depressors as splints, to name a few.

Nurses and engineers might sound like they’re from two different worlds, but these professionals have a lot in common. Both are trained problem-solvers who innovate solutions, and when they work together, patients and hospitals can benefit.

What Are Nurse-Engineer Partnerships?

These formal or informal partnerships between nursing professionals and engineers aim to address real healthcare problems. Collaborations bring together nurses’ deep understanding of patient care workflows, human needs, and clinical problems, while engineers bring expertise in design, usability, systems thinking, and technological innovation.

As a nurse, you’ve probably noticed problems at work — alarm fatigue, medication administration errors, or patient mobility issues. Engineers help translate those needs into feasible technical or process solutions. For example, at the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation at UMass Amherst, engineer-nurse teams have worked together on projects to address nurse well-being, streamline IV pumps, and integrate robots into nursing practice.

What are the benefits of these partnerships?

• Practical, user-centered design: Nurses ensure that medical devices, technologies, and workflows align with real-world clinical needs.
• Faster product testing and feedback: Teams rely on prototypes and continuous feedback to ensure that bedside innovations are usable, safe, and aligned with the realities of clinical practice.
• Shortened “practice gap”: There’s typically a 10–15-year time period between innovation discovery and use at the bedside, but partnerships can help shorten this timeline.
• Potential cost savings for healthcare systems: Well-designed tools and technologies can lower maintenance costs, reduce staff training and user issues, and improve workflow efficiency.

Types of Engineers That May Work With Nurses

Healthcare challenges are broad, so a wide range of engineering specialties can contribute to problem-solving efforts. Depending on the project, different engineers bring unique expertise that complements nurses’ clinical insight.

• Biomedical engineering: Specialize in medical devices, prosthetics, diagnostic tools, and wearables. When a nurse notices issues with IV pumps, monitors, or wound-care tools, biomedical engineers are often the ones designing safer, more effective solutions.
• Mechanical engineering: Develop physical devices with components that move, like surgical robots, hospital beds, and mobility equipment. Nurses’ feedback helps ensure these devices are ergonomic, user-friendly, and durable in real-world care environments.
• Software engineering and computer science: Work to create and improve mobile apps, electronic health records, and clinical decision-support systems. When an informatics nurse notices a major problem in the electronic health record (EHR) filing system, they’re likely calling on a software engineer or computer scientist.

Types of Nurses That May Work With Engineers

Certain specialties naturally overlap with design, innovation, and systems improvement. These nurses can bring their clinical expertise to the table, ensuring that innovations meet the needs of both patients and providers.

• Acute care nurses: Bedside nurses may be the first to spot problems with equipment or workflows. Their feedback is crucial when engineers design or refine medical devices, such as IV pumps, patient monitors, or mobility aids.
• Nurse informaticists: Focused on the intersection of healthcare and technology, nurse informaticists may partner with software engineers to improve EHRs, integrate AI in decision-support tools, and fix patient data systems.
• Nurse educators: Educators can help bridge the gap between engineers and frontline clinicians. They may test new technologies, provide training, and give feedback on whether tools are practical and teachable in a clinical environment.
• Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs): Nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists may collaborate on advanced diagnostic and treatment tools.
• Nurse administrators and nurse executives: Nursing leaders may work with systems or industrial engineers to improve workflows, optimize staffing, or guide hospital design projects that impact patient flow and safety.

Can a Nurse Become an Engineer?

Yes, and more people are choosing this dual career path as healthcare grows increasingly technical. Nurses bring a unique perspective to engineering because they understand firsthand how patients and clinicians use medical tools, systems, and environments. When a nurse also becomes trained as an engineer, they can help design solutions that are both technically sound and clinically practical.

If you’re considering nursing vs. engineering for a career, some universities offer dual-degree programs or a nurse engineer course. Students may go on to work in areas like biomedical engineering, systems design, and health informatics. Nurses who pursue advanced degrees in biomedical, mechanical, or systems engineering may design medical devices, improve hospital infrastructure, or work in healthcare technology startups.

Even without a formal engineering degree, nurses can participate in innovation. Many hospitals and health systems host innovation labs or partner with universities where nurses are invited to co-develop prototypes and test new technologies with engineers.

This path requires significant additional study, but for nurses interested in design, problem-solving, and improving healthcare on a systems level, blending nursing and engineering can be a fulfilling career.

Innovate Your Nursing Career

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