Solving the healthcare challenges of tomorrow, today
“No man is an island.” This maxim held true during the inaugural Shaping Healthcare Innovation For Tomorrow (SHIFT) hackathon, a ground-up hackathon that empowers students to co-create innovative solutions to real-world healthcare challenges.
Organised by the Singapore Nursing Innovation Group (SNIG), a student-led initiative under the NUS Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies (NUS Nursing), over 100 students from five local universities and polytechnics — NUS, the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Ngee Ann Polytechnic , Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and the Institute of Technical Education — collaborated on winning innovations spanning three subthemes: Chronic Disease Prevention & Early Detection, Lifestyle & Behavioural Health Modification, and Ageing Population & Preventive Care.
Held from 31 August to 6 September 2025, the interdisciplinary hackathon comprised almost 30 teams, with at least one Nursing student per team, offering a valuable opportunity for students to collaborate across fields and gain mentorship from healthcare professionals.
At the final showcase on 6 September 2025, three teams walked away with top honours for their innovative ideas — a smart sock, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) social network, and a behavioural change virtual pet — all poised to shape the future of healthcare.
For NUS Nursing Asst Prof Jocelyn Chew, who founded SNIG, this stemmed from a conviction that nursing should be recognised not only for its role in bedside care, but also for its strength in problem-solving at the frontlines.
Her vision is for SNIG to grow into a national platform where nurses at all levels engage in cross-institutional collaboration, entrepreneurship, and evidence-based change. “We want to create an ecosystem that empowers nurses to go beyond solely delivering care, to also design the systems, technologies, and models of care that will shape the future of healthcare,” she said. That philosophy inspired SNIG’s first flagship project, the SHIFT Hackathon — a proving ground where students, practitioners, technologists, and community partners came together to co-create solutions.
SHIFT’s student organising committee, led by third-year NUS Nursing students Weslyn Low and Magdalene Tong, spearheaded the planning of the hackathon. They were supported by 25 nursing mentors from hospitals across Singapore, who guided teams through the fast-paced ideation and prototyping process.
Dr Lee Yee Mei, Deputy Director of Nursing at National University Hospital and one of the mentors, described the hackathon as both inspiring and a proud moment for the profession. Seeing students step up to innovate, she said, showed their potential to create ideas that benefit patients and nurses alike. She encouraged students to view innovation as part of nursing education itself — where even something as basic as measuring vital signs can be re-imagined.
Mr Wong Kok Cheong, Deputy Director of Nursing at Changi General Hospital and one of the judges for the hackathon, shared that it was indicative of a larger shift in nursing as a profession. “Nursing innovation is the next milestone for nurses – with an ageing population and shrinking workforce, innovation is essential to improving productivity and patient outcomes.”