Alumna receives American Nurses Association's 2021 Innovation Award
University of Michigan School of Nursing alumna Becky Cherney (BSN ’12) received the American Nurses Association’s 2021 Innovation Award for her work creating TrachTrail™, the first comprehensive, standardized adult tracheostomy care education program of its kind. Cherney, a staff nurse and evidence-based practice fellow in Michigan Medicine’s 8D Intermediate Care Unit, developed TrachTrail™ as a toolkit to bridge adult tracheostomy education from hospital to home for nurses, patients and caregivers.
“It’s about setting patients up for success while also helping nursing staff provide more effective education,” Cherney explained. “The goal is to make patients and their caregivers more confident and comfortable.”
The ANA Innovation Awards are presented annually to one nurse and one nurse-led team whose product, program, project or practice best exemplify nurse-led innovation in patient safety and/or outcomes. Cherney’s individual award includes $25,000 to support translational research, development, prototyping, production, testing and implementation. Winners have one year to develop their innovation further before presenting their outcomes at an ANA event.
After conceptualizing the program, Cherney developed TrachTrail™ with support from the U-M School of Nursing’s Healthcare Innovation Impact Program, a suite of health care innovation support and engagement services dedicated to empowering innovation to create impactful improvement in health care delivery.
Cherney was presented with the award on Feb. 17 during a special ceremony at the ANA’s Navigate Nursing webinar, “Innovation in Healthcare: The Role of Creativity, Design, and Innovation in Nursing.”
