Milwaukee VA nurse's icy innovation garners accolades

Kristin Olson, a registered nurse in Medical Procedures, is one of 100 national semifinalists in the Veterans Health Administration’s annual Shark Tank Competition.

Based on the TV show of the same name where inventors pitch ideas for products to potential investors, VHA Shark Tank identifies VHA frontline employee innovations that promote positive outcomes and improved experiences for Veterans and the VHA community. 

For Olson, it began when the team performing bronchoscopies on Veterans discovered a pseudo-outbreak of mycobacterium. While no Veterans were harmed or sickened by the infection, the team sought to track down the source of the outbreak.

That led them to ice from an ice machine.

Syringes of saline solution used during the procedure — specifically to control bleeding after biopsies —had been chilled in containers filled with the ice.

“When we identified the ice machine as a potential source, we worked to eliminate ice immediately,” Olson said.

But the team still needed chilled saline, so the solution was to cool the syringes in container filled with single-use ice packs — similar to those used for relief of aches and injuries.

Olson began experimenting with the ice packs, figuring out how many were needed to get the saline chilled to the right temperature.

Since December, when the new procedure was implemented, there have been no Veterans testing positive for the mycobacterium after bronchoscopies.

“It was so simple and easy, so I decided to submit it to Shark Tank,” Olson said, noting she was “completely surprised” when she found out her project had advanced.

“It was very exciting,” she said.

While Olson didn’t invent a new product, Shark Tank also recognizes new or innovative processes and procedures. 

This year, there were 224 Shark Tank applications from throughout VHA, with 100 chosen as semifinalists. The finalists will be announced Aug. 6. Those finalists will then promote their innovations to medical center director “sharks,” who bid resources for a chance to implement the practice at their facility.

“I am a person who likes to come up with solutions for problems,” Olson said. “Even at home, I’ll think about ways things work and what I can do to fix things.”

To that end, Olson took part in the Ignite series, offered by VHA’s Innovators Network. The annual series teaches employees about the human-centered design process, nurtures their inherent problem-solving abilities and allows them to meet with other innovators.

But Olson is quick to point out she wasn’t alone in finding the solution to the ice problem.

“I feel like my part in all of this was very small,” she said. “It was truly a collaborative effort,” noting that she worked with other departments on a presentation to the MidCon Patient Safety Awareness Week.

“Even if this doesn’t go anywhere, it’s nice to share this with other people,” Olson said.

Katy Charlton, Medical Procedures program manager, agreed, saying it was gratifying to see the teams come together to find a solution.

“There was no finger-pointing, or ‘Whose fault is this?’” she said. “This was truly symbolic of an HRO (High Reliability Organization). This was drilling down and figuring out how to improve patient safety.”