How do we ensure healthcare remains future-proof in times of staff shortages, high workloads, and increasingly complex patient care? The Healthy Start program is addressing this issue, and the convergence nurse plays a vital role. A conversation with Mariska Wildschut-de Heer, Pediatric ICU Nurse at Sophia Children’s Hospital and Convergence Nurse within Healthy Start.

To truly understand what nurses need, Mariska, together with neonatologist Tom Ouwehand, launched the cohort study “Samen Sophia.” Nurses and caregivers will receive questionnaires over several years about topics such as job satisfaction and work environment, as well as the situation at home. “We hope to establish connections and gain insights so that the research can contribute to targeted improvements in job satisfaction and nurse retention. Later in the research, we will also look at physical resilience. For example, we use health watches to map the impact of irregular shifts on the body. This data can help us formulate specific recommendations for, for example, sustainable schedules and better staff deployment.” Mariska is therefore not only a link between healthcare and science, but also active in research. Her work as a convergence nurse demonstrates the importance of nurses having a voice in innovation.

Read the entire NurScience magazine here.