The Shark Tank event recently hosted by the TLU Nursing Department on its New Braunfels campus wasn鈥檛 quite as cutthroat as the reality TV series, where entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to wealthy tycoons with the power to make or break them.
鈥淥ur Shark Tank really isn't a competition, but is an opportunity for the students to present ready-to-go projects to our clinical partners, with the hope that one will 鈥榠nvest鈥 in the project and invite the students to help implement it in the facility,鈥 said Dr. Gayle Dasher, visiting clinical professor on the New Braunfels campus and planner of the event.
The 鈥渢ank鈥 was open to second and third semester MSN (Master of Science in Nursing) students who鈥檝e spent the semester developing their projects. 鈥淥ur Research I students (second semester MSN students) are in the early development of their projects while the Research II students (our third semester MSN students) have completed a fully developed project,鈥 said Dasher. 鈥淭he Research I students presented posters while the Research II students did podium presentations.鈥
Their audience鈥攖he so-called sharks in this scenario鈥攚as made up of clinical partners. 鈥淲e invited clinical partners from CHRISTUS Santa Rosa facilities in San Antonio, New Braunfels, and San Marcos, and the Methodist Hospital facilities in San Antonio,鈥 said Dasher, adding that the projects were well received, and three now even have potential investors: One student group will work on addressing the prevention of workplace violence, a second will be furthering their work regarding accelerated recovery for cardiac surgery patients, and a third will work with pediatric nurses leading a palliative care project.
鈥淭he event was great!鈥 Dasher said. In fact, it was a win-win. 鈥淥ur clinical partners were very enthusiastic about the work our students have done, and the students really were energized by the reception.鈥 An added bonus: The students were able to polish up their professional presentation skills.
The event was such a success, in fact, that there will be more to come in the future. Dasher says first-semester students are already asking when the next one will be. 鈥淲e plan to continue our Shark Tank and hope we've started a great tradition.鈥
