Daniel Weberg, Ph.D., MHI, RN, is a part of the nursing faculty at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and is currently teaching Advanced Innovation for High Performing Organizations.
Dr. Dan Weberg is also the Head of Clinical Innovation at Trusted Health. He is a nurse leader and expert in human-centered patient design and simulation and healthcare innovation with extensive clinical experience in the emergency department, acute in-patient hospital settings, and academia over the past 13 years.
Jones & Bartlett Learning (JBL): How did you become interested in your area of specialty?
Dan Weberg (DW): I have a passion for challenging the status quo and creating a better healthcare industry. Nursing has allowed me to work in everything from frontline Emergency Departments, to IT departments and now at a start-up focused on improving the nursing workforce.
JBL: Is there a particular person or event that motivated you?
DW: I was motivated and inspired by Dr. Tim Porter-O'Grady and Dr. Kathy Malloch. They pioneered innovation in nursing and have been mentors and co-authors on our three books!
JBL: What has been the most influential or pivotal moment in your career?
DW: I was in the first cohort to graduate from the Masters in Healthcare Innovation program at Arizona State University. The first day in class was like jumping into the "Matrix". It changed my view of healthcare from a bedside nurse to a system view and from a follower to a leader. That first semester catalyzed my entire career in leadership and innovation.
JBL: What changes in your field excite you? Or what areas do you think need to be changed?
DW: Nursing is 30 years behind other industries in innovation and technology. We need to step up and influence the system and the profession to be better. I am excited by all the incoming nurses wanting to be entrepreneurs, leaders, and disruptors and eventually, the culture will shift.
JBL: Tell us how you motivate your students.
DW: We hate lectures, so we use a ton of videos, interactive assignments, and mindmaps for classes. The information we can get from a mindmap, with all its detail and connections, allows us to more accurately understand how students are thinking and how they are associating concepts. This is much better than writing a paper.
JBL: Tell us about the last recognition you’ve received.
DW: I recently was honored to speak at the Harriet Cook Carter Lectureship at Duke University College of Nursing. Also, our team at Trusted Health won the Innovation award from the American Nurses
Association All-Pro-Nurse competition.
JBL: What advice do you have for today's students?
DW: Challenge the status quo, focus on adapting your practice to the changing workforce, and do not settle for the traditions of the past. Your educated to create the future not follow the history.
Learn more about Leadership in Nursing Practice: The Intersection of Innovation and Teamwork in Healthcare Systems, Fourth Edition and request your review copy today!