The FFG Comet Project N!CA is bringing fresh impetus to nursing research
Nurse sitting on a hospital bed next to an older woman helping hands, care for the elderly concept
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To mark International Nurses’ Day on 12 May 2026, we are not only commemorating Florence Nightingale as the pioneer of modern nursing, but also highlighting just how essential nursing research is for the healthcare of the future.
Through the FFG Comet project NI!CA – Digitalisation of Innovative Nursing Processes to Support and Empower Caregivers – the Medical University of Graz, together with a strong consortium of 14 partners from research and industry, is demonstrating how digital innovation, nursing science expertise and interprofessional collaboration can further develop the care of people in hospitals and in inpatient long-term care in an evidence-based, data-driven and sustainable manner.
Led by Katharina Lichtenegger from the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetology, N!CA is providing new impetus for ‘pioneering mindset’-oriented nursing research and digital transformation in healthcare. On behalf of the Medical University of Graz, the Institute of Nursing and Health Sciences and the Division of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine 1 are also contributing to the research project.
The latest N!CA success stories offer exciting insights into:
Relief through digitalisation – nursing shapes the digital future with
more than 1,100 nursing staff providing valuable insights into the potential of AI in nursing. Building on this, key nursing processes – from admission through the handover of care duties to discharge management – are being completely reimagined and redesigned.
Personalised fall prevention – from guidelines to digital recommendations for action
The project demonstrates how evidence-based guidelines, standardised care data and digital technologies can be systematically combined to enable individualised and practical recommendations for action.
Digital support for chronic pain
Digital solutions help professional carers and the interdisciplinary team to systematically record information relevant to decision-making regarding chronic pain and to provide targeted support for clinical decision-making processes.
This makes an important contribution to patient safety, to reducing the workload of care staff, and to the sustainable digital transformation of care.