Monmouth Medical Center Nurse Wins Award For COVID Invention

LONG BRANCH, NJ — A pediatric nurse at Monmouth Medical Center was one of only two nurses in North America to win a Johnson & Johnson award for innovations in how to care for coronavirus patients.

Kathleen Malouf, who lives in Middletown, works at the Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center. Malouf works as what's called a "pediatric medical stay" nurse at the Long Branch children's hospital, meaning she works with kids who come to the hospital for day treatments, such as to receive chemotherapy infusions for cancer.

So, to say the least, her job is already pretty challenging.

But when coronavirus hit last spring her job got even tougher, as she was reassigned to work with some of the hospital's most critical patients, those in the COVID-19 ICU. That meant she had to don several layers of protective PPE with every shift.

“Back in April, I was redeployed to be a nurse in our new COVID intensive care unit,” she recalled. “When I shifted to caring for COVID patients and wearing layers of PPE, my pockets became inaccessible. I found myself unable to hold all the supplies I needed when visiting a patient’s room."

She was simply unable to access her pockets due to the layers of protective gear.

Malouf noticed she was not alone: She and other nurses were either forgetting supplies or dropping them on the floor, and thus having to throw them out. To make matters worse, this all happened at a time when hospital workers were desperately trying to preserve PPE.

“I realized what we needed was a pocket for our isolation gowns — almost like a fanny pack —that could help store supplies, stick on and come off easily with our isolation gowns, and wouldn’t interfere with our PPE — that led me to create the IsoPouch, which is short for Isolation Pouch,” she explained.

For the past six years, Johnson & Johnson has held its Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge. But in 2020, it adapted the focus to specifically improve care for patients with COVID-19. Malouf said she submitted her invention after hearing about the contest.

The Johnson & Johnson award is not just a plaque: It also comes with an undisclosed amount of funding to help Malouf further develop her prototypes of the IsoPouch. Johnson & Johnson has said awardees can receive up to $100,000.

Malouf said she is eager to begin manufacturing, explore different sizes and materials and plans to pursue a patent. She said the IsoPouch is not just limited to healthcare: Basically, any industry that uses isolation gowns can benefit from the IsoPouch.

“I want to focus on getting this product to those on the front lines of this health crisis first," said Malouf. "But I also know there are opportunities to expand this to other industries that use isolation gowns, such as nuclear, chemical, aerospace and even the food industry."

The other nurse who won is Jennifer Stinson, from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, who invented Pain Rehabilitation Virtual Reality. Working with Stanford University, that software aims to develop virtual reality as an at-home rehabilitation treatment for adolescents with chronic pain.

Malouf's advice to others? Don't be afraid to pitch an idea — any idea — that you think can improve the world.

"For the longest time, I’ve been keeping a list on my phone of ideas that could help improve patient care or our daily workflow ... Nurses are in the trenches of healthcare every day, so our insights are vital,” she said. “I would encourage nurses with great ideas to take a leap of faith and come forward with your ideas and products, because just by believing in yourself, you can change healthcare. It’s within your power.”

Diann Johnston, the regional chief nursing officer at Monmouth Medical, said it is nurses like Malouf that helped the hospital receive magnet designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center last January.

"Among the criteria for our magnet recognition is that our nurses must be recognized for their contributions to the hospital,” she said. “This new innovation by Kathleen is an incredible example of how our nurses continue to shine.”

Be the first to know what's happening in your town and area. Sign up to get Patch emails and don't miss a minute of local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe Contact this reporter: carly.baldwin@patch.com