ABOUT THE PITCH-A-THON
Nurse-led interdisciplinary health systems teams will identify a challenge, take it apart, fix it, and use technology, creativity and experience to build a better solution, with the goal of receiving up to $150,000 in grant funding!
Nurses bring forward powerful ideas on how to help improve health and healthcare for all. Strengthening this critical workforce is essential to delivering equitable healthcare, and establishing and sustaining healthy work environments in all settings where nurses practice is crucial.
This request for proposals seeks innovative solutions that create systemic and sustainable change for a thriving workforce and healthier work environments.
Eligibility
The NurseHack4Health Pitch-A-Thon is free and open globally to non-profit/501c3 designation health systems, or those with a fiscal partner.
Nurse-led teams should be interdisciplinary – collaborating across professions, departments and the health system maximizes creativity and innovation in problem-solving.
Teams will receive coaching support throughout the process. Applications open May 6 and are due August 9th. The top entries will be invited to pitch their innovative solutions at a virtual session at 1:00 pm ET on October 15, with the opportunity to receive up to $150,000 in grant funding.
Click image to register for Innovation Academy + Info Sessions
Innovation Accelerator for Finalists Teams
NurseHack4Health: Innovation Accelerator & Pitch-A-Thon, presented by Johnson & Johnson, SONSIEL and Microsoft, with support from ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation.
Innovation Accelerator: September 5 – October 11, 2024
During the Accelerator, the finalist health system teams will be assigned coaches to pressure test their innovations/solutions, develop a detailed one-year budget, and practice their pitches.
Pitch-A-Thon: October 15, 2024
Finalists will present their pitches to a panel of industry-expert judges. Selected awardee(s) will receive grant funding from ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare to assist with the creation, testing or expansion of early-stage solutions to catalyze a healthy environment for nurses and the patients they care for within their health systems.
The award amount will be determined by the budget and feasibility provided by the teams, with a maximum of $150,000.
Q&A
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The complete application is due August 2.
Click the Apply Now button to submit your application. You will also have the option to save it if you wish not to complete it in its entirety.
You will receive a confirmation email upon submission.
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A 501(c)(3) organization is a specific type of nonprofit organization in the United States that is exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. These organizations are typically organized and operated for charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, or other similar purposes.
Not sure if you are a non-profit organization? An Internet search with your Organization’s name and “EIN” will provide you the unique number issued by the Internal Revenue Service to be entered into the section Enter Organization’s EIN Number.
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If an organization is not a 501 c(3), they may partner with a fiscal sponsor. A fiscal sponsorship is an arrangement between an NFP with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status (the sponsor NFP) and another party without tax-exempt status. The Fiscal Sponsor directly receives the Grants for the project or program, and the receipt and use of these funds are reported on the Fiscal Sponsor’s tax filings. The Fiscal Sponsor is responsible for the government filings, compliance tasks, fund disbursement, and financial reporting.
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We understand your time is valuable, so we have a few Must-Haves as you consider your eligibility and application:
• Grants must be used for project implementation
• Teams must be nurse-led and encouraged to be interdisciplinary
• Teams must have at least one member of executive leadership as an advisor or sponsor to implement innovations within health-care system
• Grantees must start implementation by January 2025 and end fund spend by December 31, 2025
• Teams must articulate sustainability plans beyond this grant cycle
• Grantees cannot be vendors
• Grantees must be a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit/ international equivalent or have a fiscal sponsor
• Non-HCP orgs are not eligible for direct funding but may partner with a 501(c)(3) or global equivalent.
NURSE-LED: Teams must be nurse-led and are encouraged to be interdisciplinary – e.g. include staff nurses, nurse leaders, other health care professionals, physicians, patient care techs, CNAs, HR, IT, Engineering.
Organizational Buy-in: Teams should include at least one member of executive leadership to serve as an advisor or sponsor and ensure implementation of idea.
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Don’t worry, we are here to help.
• In June-July, we will be hosting several Information/Pitch Prep sessions about the Pitch-a-thon. Attending ONE of these sessions is mandatory.
• To help power-up your innovation skills you can also view Design Thinking and Crafting the Perfect Pitch pre-recorded and available in the "TRAININGS" tab on this website so you can listen whenever convenient for you.
• Office Hours for Questions & Answers will be provided throughout the summer.
• Mentoring by subject matter experts is available by request (e.g., Design Thinking/Designers, Operational, Clinical, Technical during the application time frame (June – August) for all teams applying.
• In September, we will hold Practice Pitch session for the Finalists selected to pitch at the October 15, 2024 event.
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No, a patent is not required to apply. However, you should not submit any information that you wish to keep confidential or that may negatively impact upon the future patentability of your solution, or that is not proprietary, considered a trade secret or privileged.
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No. Our sponsor organizations have donated both resources and labor to make this event possible. Our Participants, Coaches and Judges are likewise contributing their time, knowledge and skills to build solutions that will help improve patient care outcomes and care delivery.
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DO NOT SUBMIT CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. Only non-confidential information should be submitted and anything you submit will be treated as non-confidential.
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As this is a no-strings-attached arrangement, NurseHack4Health/J&J/Microsoft/SONSIEL/ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare does not acquire any IP. Any IP creation and/or protection remains the sole responsibility of the inventors.
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Make sure your browser is up to date and accepting cookies. You can contact customer service at support@nursehack4health.org if you are having technical difficulties as well.
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No – you can use whatever technology or tools you wish. We are utilizing Microsoft Teams to host the event kickoff, for Trainings and as a collaboration tool so you can participate in checkpoints, stay aware of announcements and stay in touch with mentors.
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ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare is a coalition of leading healthcare organizations working to advance systems-level, evidence-based solutions to improve healthcare worker mental health and well-being and shift the cultural stigma around health workers accessing mental health services. The coalition was founded by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, the CAA Foundation, and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation and is currently led by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation. For more information, please visit allinforhealthcare.org.