Have you ever flown a kite? Children of all ages, including adults with the soaring heart of a child, have enjoyed kite flying throughout the ages. It is a very relaxing pastime and involves minimal cost. The history of kite flying is not exact, but it is believed that it had its origins in Shandong, China, more than 2000 years ago.1
Presumably, a farmer, in an attempt to keep his hat from flying away, tied a string to it and hence was born the first kite.1 That story has many versions and there are other claims to the first kite, but for sure, kite flying has captured the heart of all minds, from the most simplistic to the most sophisticated. Its design and uses have proliferated over the years, a phenomenon largely due to imaginative thinkers who have incorporated new materials into kite construction and creatively adapted the principles of kite flying to other applications.
Kite flying is not only a recreational pleasure, with competitive and noncompetitive aspects, but kites have been applied to science, for example, meteorology, and aerodynamic experiments, power generation, military warfare, and photography. The media has also popularized the lure of kite flying. In the movie, "Mary Poppins," the very formal Banks family sing, "Let's go fly a kite" as they learned to enjoy the youthful pastime.2 In 2005, the book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini dramatically captured kite fighting in prewar Kabul, Afghanistan.3 But what has all this to do with nursing and innovation?
Think about the process of flying a kite. How does such an idea evolve? Who is positioned to see the need? How do you know which kite design to fly? Do all kites fly on the first try? Is making a profit from a creative idea an acceptable path to pursue? Nurses do not always know it,4 but they are excellent kite flyers! They creatively problem solve almost every day. If one changes the jargon and uses the words "work around"5 to describe creative problem solving, the nurse begins to see the potential for innovation. Sometimes, reframing a situation is all that is needed to open up a nurse's perception on problems, allowing new ideas to be born. Nurses are excellent kite flyers not only because they practice "work arounds" on an everyday basis but they do it relentlessly; lives depend on it.
The first 2 questions in the previous paragraph ask, "How does an idea evolve? And, Who is positioned to see the need?" For the sake of brevity, the simplest response is that ideas are usually stimulated by a need. Strategically located on the battlefield of health care delivery, nurses understand the needs of the industry. They work directly with the patient/client, and immediate performance is imperative to deliver preventive and curative patient/client care. If the products or processes they are using do not work, rapid intervention is required and a "work around" is developed. The "work around" may not be able to be sustained, but it temporarily meets the need. Figuring out which "work arounds" warrant further investigation and prioritizing their development is an imperative skill in which nurses need to gain greater facility.5
What kind of an environment stimulates creative development?4 Having been involved with nursing for many years, it has been my observation that there is many a nurse who has had his or her imagination cut short by a stifling work environment. Rules and regulations prescribe a certain way of doing things and nothing short of strict adherence to those rules is acceptable. Some leadership styles, which put down all but the "status quo," can bring a screeching halt to original, imaginative thinking. But does this mean that nurses cannot innovate? Assuredly, the answer to that question is "no"! The environment has simply put innovation in a "hold" pattern until the right set of circumstances unlock the potential within so that new ideas can fly forth like a kite. The profession has always had "high flyers"6 whose original thoughts have endured and prospered even in the most caustic environments. But what needs to be strongly encouraged is a swelling wave from the rank and file of the nursing profession to step out with the innocence of youth and to "fly" their ideas (kites), seeing what works, what does not work, and what requires further development.
Have you, especially as a supervisor, looked at this process of "work arounds" and tried to expand on their opportunities? Nursing has some very strict rules about the delivery of care that must be followed for the safety of all, but there are numerous areas that could be explored for imaginative development. Encouraging your staff to consider "work arounds" in a positive light may be just the "breath of fresh air" that rejuvenates their work environment. Rather than being annoyed by inconvenience, license is now given to entertain new perspectives that will increase the effectiveness of patient/client care. Not all "work arounds" are viable processes or products with commercial opportunity. But nurses should be encouraged to "fly their kites," have respect for their ideas, and not stop in their pursuits when failure appears on the scene.
Do all kites fly on the first try? The answer is obvious! They don't all "take off" right away. Experimentation is essential to developing new applications, and new applications automatically imply multiple failures before success is achieved. Failure is just a stepping stone to further invention and helps rule out nonviable paths. Do you encourage your staff when they run into failure? Do you help them frame that experience in a larger context and motivate them to keep trying? "Work around" solutions do not all need to become successfully commercialized products, but they can be keys that unlock alternatives that will bring about more efficient and effective patient/client care.
Why is it that there are so many uses for a kite? In the kite-sporting industry, one of the newest trends is snow kiting, but there is also kite surfing, kite landboarding, kite fishing, kite ice skating, kite boating, and kite buggying. Fostering the proliferation of new ideas in nursing is no different than experimenting with different kite designs and applications or trying to get a kite into flight; it maximizes growth of the profession. It may take several tries to get a concept right, but the learning process refines one's knowledge, increases one's skill, and focuses attention on opportunity rather than failure.
The everyday kind of person whom you meet on the street most likely perceives kite flying as a whimsical form of entertainment. Nurses can enjoy this element of the process as they feel the freedom of "thinking outside the box." But be careful to recognize that the principles of kite flying also have great depth and profitability as they are applied to scientific invention and consumer demand. To some extent, nurses shun or are insulted by the fact that their ideas, "kite flying," may be highly profitable; this seems antithetical to their service objectives. Other times, nurses forfeit the opportunity to learn about how to market their ideas, effectively leveraging their concepts for a substantial monetary reward. These attitudes, innocently or not so innocently, can rob a nurse of his or her due financial remuneration. Nurses need to know that to make a profit in health care is not a dirty word. Profit is a necessary part of the business of health care, but it must be achieved judiciously and in a morally sensitive manner. Concern for the "return on investment" is an important part of "kite flying." It should not be avoided or negated. But profit is not usually the sustaining force for invention. The greatest motivator is the joy of discovery and the freedom to think wildly that ultimately produces a useful solution for a stated need. There is many an innovator who has been motivated by greed. But greed fosters bad ethics. And bad ethics should never be a part of any nurse's professional life.
Are you going to be a dynamic kite flyer who, with whimsical delight, finds joy and satisfaction in dreaming up new ways to do things in health care? Are you going to take your "work arounds," examine them, experiment with them, turn failures into success, and enjoy potentially significant monetary rewards from your inventions? Nursing needs you. Holistic nursing needs you. Imaginations are lofty seeds that need to be stimulated, encouraged, and developed. If your imagination is "dry," at least be willing to create an environment in which others can create and enjoy the ability to think "outside the box." The success of health care is dependent upon a community of people working for the betterment of mankind. A kite flyer always needs help with his or her concepts. Would you be willing to do this? Go fly or help fly a kite and enjoy the thrill of sending it soaring!
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