Milwaukee VA nurse seeks patent for innovative drain clip
A Milwaukee VA nurse is hoping to patent an innovative clip she designed to make life a little easier for post-operative patients.
Jean Borck, a registered nurse and simulation education specialist, originally thought up the idea when she began her career as a medical/surgical nurse. But its need came to the forefront while she was recovering from her own surgery two years ago.
She had six drains placed on her after the procedure and was dismayed when she saw the drains were affixed to her gown with safety pins — the same way she did it nearly 30 years ago.
“We were using safety pins when I started,” she said. “My thought back then was, ‘I bet there is a better method to do this.’ But to my dismay, safety pins are still being used to secure surgical drains.”
Borck remembers sticking herself with safety pins during her early days in nursing. After her surgery in November 2022, the nurse helping with her drains stuck herself with the safety pin, drawing blood, and stuck Borck as well.
Such sticks are so common that they aren’t reportable injuries. But Borck said they shouldn’t happen at all.
She went home after her surgery with four drains. When her husband saw the drains and safety pins, he said, “I do not know how to help you with those. I’m afraid I’m going to hurt you.”
Borck grabbed her work lanyard and office clips and fashioned her own drain-holding device that replaced the safety pins. She was able to walk easily and shower with the makeshift clips and realized she had concocted something that could help patients everywhere.
“I wanted to make a positive change for anyone else who has a drain,” she said.
Borck joined forces with the Milwaukee VA’s 3D printing department to refine her device into a prototype and began working with the VA’s national innovation program, which encourages and provides guidance for turning ideas like Borck’s into reality.
The clip, which can be attached to clothing or a lanyard, eases mobility for people with drains and helps prevent those drains — which are stitched into the patient’s body — from accidentally being yanked out.
There are products people can buy that hold surgical drains, but Borck said people shouldn’t have to pay extra for such devices. Plus, her device is less cumbersome and more user friendly, making it ideal for elderly patients and those with tremors or dexterity issues.
Obstacles to overcome
Unfortunately, Borck has hit some roadblocks. Her device requires FDA approval before it can be trialed, but she can’t get that until she can show positive uses by other patients, and VA does not allow such experimentation in VA hospitals.
The hope is that the clip can be approved for Compassionate Care use, which wouldn’t require the FDA approval, according to Joann Jastrab, the Milwaukee VA’s Innovation Specialist.
“If we can get that approval … we can proceed with getting feedback from Veterans and family members,” she said, noting that could lead to a provisional patent and subsequently the FDA approval.
This standstill is frustrating for Borck and has her reaching out to Veteran service organizations and other groups in hopes of getting the necessary tests and data to keep moving forward.
“I’m not giving up,” she said. “I knew there would be footwork, and I’m willing to put that footwork in because I truly believe that this idea is going to help other people. I want the opportunity to trial it … so I can make it better.
“I’m hoping that health care organizations see the value of this and change practices. We have to do better than sharp safety pins.”
Borck enrolled in the Spark Seed Spread Innovation Investment Program, from which she will graduate in August. She’s applied for a 2025 Veterans Health Administration Innovation fellowship.
She also applied to VHA’s Shark Tank competition that is based on the television show of the same name where inventors pitch their products to potential investors.
And she’s pursuing an innovation program through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that tries to accelerate ideas into manufacturing and implementation.
“This has been exciting,” Jastrab said. “I’m excited to work with people who have ideas and to see them impact health care. It’s really rewarding.”
“I really do want to effect change, but it’s overwhelming when I hit these avenues that I can’t get across or hills that I can’t move,” Borck said. “But I have a lot of support, and everyone who has seen it says it’s a good idea. I really want it to be great.”