Nurse Innovation Fellowship Program by Johnson & Johnson

Applications will be accepted between January 6, 2025 and February 17, 2025. Participants will be selected and notified by March 21, 2025; the program will begin in May 2025 and conclude in May 2026.

Required Sessions

• May 14, 2025 (virtual)
• June 23-27, 2025 (Philadelphia, PA)
• September 10-11, 2025 (virtual)
• November 12-13, 2025 (virtual)
• February 11-12, 2026 (virtual)
• May 20-21, 2026 (New Brunswick, NJ)

Each virtual session will last approximately six hours, tentatively from 11 AM - 5 PM ET (times are subject to change).

Application background:

Fifteen two-person teams from different health systems across the United States will be selected as fellows through a competitive process using an online application. The application opens on January 6, 2025. Each team will be composed of a CNO or nurse executive and a senior nurse leader.

The application will be submitted by the CNO/nurse executive from a hospital or health system who will serve as the primary applicant. The CNO/nurse executive will choose another senior nurse leader from their hospital or health system to complete the team. Evidence of health system buy-in and support for the participation in the fellowship and implementation of the solution from the Chief Executive Officer is required.

The fellows will be selected by Penn Nursing.

Applicants must:

• Be a Registered Nurse.
• Reside in the U.S. or its territories or Indian Lands of Federally Recognized Tribes of the United States.
• The primary applicant will hold the role of Chief Nursing Officer/nurse executive in a hospital or health system and identify a senior nurse leader as the partner on the team.
• This is a team-based fellowship; each member of the dyadic team must commit to working together as a part of the Fellowship program.
• Have support and buy-in from the executive leadership (e.g., Chief Executive Officer) and c-suite administrators, including a signed letter of support on letterhead guaranteeing release time for the in-person and virtual sessions.
• Commitment from the executive leadership (e.g., Chief Executive Officer) and c-suite administrators, included in the signed letter of support stating how they will support the development, implementation, and sustainability of the innovative ideas within the health system.
• Must serve at an institution that is agile and committed to being at the forefront of healthcare innovation.
• Both team members must commit to a full year of structured learning, travel, self-study, and project activity, including attendance at the in-person and virtual sessions. See key fellowship dates above.
• Must focus on a problem that when solved better supports a healthy work environment for nurses (that then impacts patients).
• Must work in an acute care hospital or health system.

Penn Nursing and the Wharton School will collect evaluation data on an ongoing basis in order for this project to contribute to national efforts to help build and maintain a strong, capable, innovative, and diverse nurse leadership workforce in health and health care. Therefore, the program will have the option to release results from this evaluation publicly. The evaluation team may study the extent to which program outcomes are achieved, as well as the impact fellows have on their work, their organizations, and the health care field as a result of their fellowship experience. These will be studied in aggregate; no specific participant or health system data will be named.

The intent of the fellowship program is that successes and lessons learned can be communicated beyond the fellowship cohort. Solution-oriented stories from the fellowship program will be shared with the larger health care and nursing communities. Participating teams and their associated organizations will participate in sharing their journey in the fellowship program.

As a condition of accepting the fellowship, fellows must participate in the evaluation. Fellow participation includes assisting with necessary data collection to accomplish the evaluation objectives. These data collection efforts may include surveys, interviews, focus groups, and other related activities to help assess and reflect on the continued development of the Fellowship program. Research on the program may occur.

Fellowship monitors the grantees’ efforts and careful stewardship to assure accountability. We will require Fellows to report on the progress and results of their innovation project work.