Sparking Innovation

by Ella Gomez

DNP student Hunter Jefferis combines his love for innovation with his nursing career by jumping at the chance to be a part of the iSpark cart innovation project

Since childhood, Hunter Jefferis, MSN, RN, CCRN, wanted to be a nurse like his dad. He and his twin brother Miles Jefferis, MSN, RN, APRN-FNP, who also became a nurse, both enjoyed community service and wanted to find a career helping others. Today, Jefferis is a nurse manager on The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s medical intensive care unit. His workday is constantly changing while working in the medical ICU. “I say my job is to take care of the people that are taking care of the patients,” Jefferis said. Whatever the staff needs, he is there to help. So when Mike Ackerman, PhD, RN, FCCM, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN, called him with a project idea, he was eager to join. 

Mike Ackerman, director of the Master of Healthcare Innovation program and Susan O’Hara, PhD, MPH, RN, EDAC, FNIHD, assistant clinical professor and project lead, were looking for help with the iSpark cart innovation project. Jefferis and his team came to mind.

“Dr. Ackerman and Dr. O’Hara from the College of Nursing approached us and said they recognized our staff because we were doing things that were cutting edge,” Jefferis said. His team had gained national recognition for their glucose monitor innovation in collaboration with Eileen Faulds, PhD, MS, RN, when COVID-19 patients filled the medical ICU in 2020. 

The iSpark cart is a specially designed cart that fits in indoor spaces and provides tools needed to innovate. These carts will meet accreditation standards and infection prevention standards. The carts will be introduced into the clinical space and give staff the tools they need to bring their ideas to life, “bringing things to them so they can create and design and plan potentially new ways of doing things that will help to reduce the burden for the future,” Jefferis said. 

Jefferis joined Dylan Galford, MHI, BSN, RN, on the iSpark cart innovation project in 2023. This project and his team’s drive for innovation opened doors for the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center to collaborate with the College of Nursing and the Connie Hahn Sharpe and Gary Sharpe Innovation Center. The iSpark carts will bring hands-on materials including foam, clay and miniature 3D printers to medical center staff. The carts were designed by William Nickley, MFA, an assistant professor in the department of design at Ohio State.

Jefferis loves DIY projects as well as graphic design, which is why he was excited to be a part of the iSpark cart project. “Once staff see them and get their hands on them, the ideas will just flow … hopefully we get some great innovative ideas for ways we can improve things for our patients or new products that we could put on the market.”  

On top of being a nurse manager and working on innovations, Jefferis is earning his DNP from the College of Nursing and plans to graduate in 2025. With a bright future ahead, “I’m looking forward to continuing my career at Ohio State,” Jefferis said.