Popsy - An Original Blister Pill Pack Opening Tool for Nurse Driven Innovation
3 min read
With the need for registered nurses the highest it's ever been, there has never been a greater need for products and technology that keep our nurses safe, healthy, and protected. With over 3 million Americans actively practicing as registered nurses, these professionals shape the future of our country, providing care to the elderly, the young, and those most in need. With a profession such as nursing, and coming from firsthand experience, nurses tend to care for everyone else before we care for ourselves, and this mindset and practice needs rapid change. At the bedside, the highest rate of injury in RNs is from repetition motion hazards, which includes any repetitive motion such pushing, pulling, peeling, lifting, and opening.
I Found a Problem That I Wanted to Fix
Very shortly into my RN career, I noticed the frequency and rate of these hazards occurring on my unit, and I knew I wanted to enact change to make a difference. I began to look at the most common problems us bedside nurses were facing every day, and I decided to tackle an issue during one of our most important tasks: the medication administration process.
In healthcare systems, pills come individually wrapped in tight foil and plastic, and they are extremely difficult to open. Nurses use their own nails, scissors, or pens to open as many as 150 pills a shift. This leads to workplace injury, contamination, and time-consuming practices that endanger the nurse and the patient.
In July of 2022, I conduced a hospital wide Qualtrics survey with more than 520 nurses responding, with 93% of RNs saying they do not use a current product to open pills at the bedside, and 95% would be extremely interested in utilizing and purchasing a product that can assist in this task. And this is why I created Popsy.
What is Popsy?
Popsy is the first of its kind product developed to streamline the blister pill pack opening and dispensing process. Popsy is a patented gadget developed to be a portable, lanyard attachable, and easy to sanitize pill opening tool. It consists of one piece and was inspired after a sharp fingernail, which clicks into place and rests on a lanyard, keychain, or even fanny pack. No product currently exists on the market that matches all the criteria nurses require to safely open pills at the bedside and keep their patients safe.
In 2023, Popsy placed in three UCLA founded pitch competitions, acquiring over $40,000 in grant funding, and was even presented on Google Venice HQ's campus for an Innovation Challenge. I am currently developing the prototype and technology to begin testing on my home unit.
Popsy is going to revolutionize the pill dispensing process and keep nurses and patients safe. Nothing is more important to me than reducing burnout, keeping nurses healthy and happy, and being an advocate for one of the most vital professions out there.
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