From the Practice of Innovation to Conceptual Clarity and Sustainability of Innovations in Nursing Education De la pratique de l’innovation à la clarté conceptuelle et à la pérennité des innovations en formation infirmière

Keywords:

• nursing,
• nursing education,
• higher education,
• Canadian health care

Innovation was the focal point of recent nursing conferences. Among them, the International Congress 2025 of the Secrétariat international des infirmières et infirmiers de l’espace francophone (SIDIIEF) pointed to nursing innovation as a driving force for transformations in health. In Canada, the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta held its inaugural Innovate 2025 conference. Both events featured oral and poster presentations on innovations encompassing all nursing practice fields, including nursing education. In the interview section of this issue of Quality Advancement in Nursing Education - Avancées en formation infirmière, we are pleased to share a selection of the nursing education abstracts of the Innovate 2025 conference and a short interview with Dean Shannon Scott. Some articles in this issue also present and evaluate potential innovations in nursing education, most of them using virtual, digital, or artificial intelligence tools through pedagogical strategies. These are only a glimpse into the practice of innovation by the nursing education community. Innovation goes hand in hand with building the body of knowledge and the science of nursing education. Innovations as educational interventions require evaluation of their effectiveness, intended changes, and learning outcomes, through intervention research (Younas, 2023). More urgently, alongside Rylee and Cavanagh (2022), we believe that “conceptual clarity on nursing innovation is vital in educating and supporting innovative [students and] nurses” (p. E115). What do we consider an innovation in nursing education, whether in relation to a pedagogical strategy, in relation to an educational program, or in relation to an academic management approach? How do we define innovation when we describe the practice of nursing education as the design of learning contexts and experiences (Pepin et al., 2024)? What are the characteristics of a nursing education innovation beyond design? In the process of creating an innovation, what steps are undertaken, and what innovation model or conceptual framework is guiding the process? Was a thorough historical review of the literature conducted prior to claiming innovation? Another pressing issue is the implementation, diffusion, and sustainability of nursing education innovation. Younas (2023) suggests that “implementation science is necessary to promote the uptake of innovations in clinical and educational practice” (p. 177). It provides theoretical and methodological approaches to accelerate the implementation of innovations alongside or in place of current practices. Involving diverse participants, from students to policy makers, is crucial to the adoption of proven effective innovations and ultimately to quality advancement in nursing education. Sharing the practice of innovation though conferences and publications is only the beginning of the process. A guest speaker at the SIDIIEF Congress 2025, Jean-François Bertholet, specialist in human resources and expert in workplace climate, described four characteristics of teams and milieux that are most successful in fostering innovation: they must be psychologically safe to express ideas, pursue them, or abandon them; be fair and equitable; take responsibility in valuing innovation; and create space for serendipity. How do our learning environments, nursing schools, and faculties exemplify these characteristics? Thinking of serendipity, are we all back in physical presence since the COVID-19 pandemic? Ideas need to be shared and challenged to become innovations, and physical presence seems most helpful. Finally, do we dare to share our innovative practices with people from other disciplinary, educational, and experiential backgrounds? Their contributions might be invaluable, and we must be open. Hence, conceptual clarity on nursing education innovations and their implementation and evaluation over time in different national and global contexts are needed to solve complex problems, identify new questions and opportunities, and advance the science and quality of nursing education. L’innovation s’est trouvée au coeur de récentes conférences en sciences infirmières. Parmi celles-ci, …