From a series on researchers and innovators at Boston Children’s Hospital

Margaret McCabe, PhD, director for nursing research in the medicine patient services at Boston Children’s Hospital, is an unlikely hacker. A former techno-phobe and chronically fatigued mother of four, McCabe didn’t think she had time for another project.

Some opportunities, however, are too good to resist. That was the case when McCabe, who thrives on interacting with people who think outside of the box, started brainstorming with colleagues about Hacking Pediatrics.

She signed as a co-founder of the group, an organization of self-described geeks from Boston Children’s and MIT’s H@cking Medicine committed to hacking the status quo in pediatric health care. “It’s the attraction to innovation,” she confesses.

McCabe describes the lure of hacking and the role of nurses in innovation. …