ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A hackathon framework has been successfully applied to solving health care challenges, including COVID-19, without much documented evidence of nurses' baseline or acquired confidence. PURPOSE: To understand differences in baseline confidence levels in starting a new venture, startup or project in the context of nurse-led hackathons. METHOD: A retrospective secondary analysis of a presurvey of hackathon participants from two NurseHack4Health (NH4H) events held in 2021. DISCUSSION: Male nurses and international nurses were more confident than the U.S.-based nurses. When comparing the 75% of participants who had not attended a hackathon previously to the 25% of participants who had, there was an increased confidence level among non-nurses and among participants with the previous hackathon, datathon, and ideation experience. CONCLUSION: If hackathons can help nurses identify strengths, add new expertise and boost confidence, it may empower nurses to pursue their ideas more effectively, aid professional growth, and provide affirmation of innovator self-identity.