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A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State.<\/p>\n
Waimon said she was drawn to nursing when she was about 12 or 13 years old and saw hospice nurses care for her grandfather, who had pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n
![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/E37JCO53QSMIFOLHELKLI66JKM.jpeg\")
Sarah Waimon, a nursing supervisor at South County Hospital in South Kingstown, R.I., has invented a splash guard design to reduce exposure to biohazardous fluids during patient care tasks. Looey was inspired and created with the help of Rhode Island research and development companies and patented locally. Sarah Waimon<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the nurses come in and take care of him and I thought, \u2018You know what? What an amazing thing for a person to be able to. What what an honor really for somebody to be able to care for somebody in those really vulnerable moments and provide comfort to not only the patient but the family.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Waimon talked to the Globe about her invention, the research and development process, of the inspiration for Looey, patenting her invention, and implementing it around Rhode Island.<\/p>\n
Q: What are some daily threats that you encounter on the job?<\/p>\n
Waimon: We\u2019re exposed constantly to patients who are in a very vulnerable state, both physically and mentally, and that can put us at risk for violence. We have had nurses who have been injured on the job, whether that be verbally abused or physically abused. That\u2019s a big issue in healthcare. I went through COVID working in the ICU. It started six years ago, but it\u2019s still kind of lingering in our memories as nurses.<\/p>\n
What do nurses do to make the job safer?<\/p>\n
I think that a lot of nurses create workarounds for different things that they\u2019re doing in the hospital, and I think by default we all are little innovators in our own ways, and we\u2019re all creative in our own ways. I honed in on that and took my own experiences to create a business that was going to protect caregivers and patients.<\/p>\n
How is Looey designed to protect caregivers?<\/p>\n
Looey is a clear splash guard that prevents splashback from reaching caregivers when they\u2019re rinsing bedpans or commodes. In hospitals and nursing facilities, there are bedpan washers that are attached to the toilets and they are basically a faucet that comes down and sprays at like 80 psi, so double the pressure of your kitchen sink. So, as you can imagine, you\u2019re rinsing something that is really shallow and that can create a lot of splashback and spray. <\/p>\n
When I was working on a colorectal unit, I was assisting a patient with emptying their colostomy bag, and after rinsing the container in a regular (tall, narrow) cylinder, which is actually fairly pretty deep compared to a bedpan, I was sprayed in the face. I thought to myself, you know what, we we deserve better than this.<\/p>\n
How does Looey attach to the washer or toilet?<\/p>\n
Looey attaches with a gasket and then a little mounting plate, and has some little hex screws, that mount in place. It\u2019s made out of plastic so it\u2019s highly durable and also resistant to a lot of the harsh chemicals that we use in the hospitals. You can simply wipe the the Looey down with just regular bleach wipes that you\u2019re using for cleaning toilets. It\u2019s reusable.<\/p>\n
What was the research and development experience like as you worked to create Looey? <\/p>\n
I went home and I created like a cardboard cutout of my first prototype and then ended up getting connected with with R&D Technologies<\/a> in Quonset. I brought my two young children in with me to meet them and my little janky cardboard cutout. We were still sandy from the beach and they created my first prototype. <\/p>\n From there, I was put in touch with the folks at New England Medical Innovation Center<\/a> in Providence, and I enrolled in their Med Tech Leadership Program, so I was able to learn how to bring a medical device or medical equipment to market. I was accepted into their accelerator, which helped me with funding and my patent. I was able to work with Hinckley Allen<\/a> in Providence and work with some engineers to advance my prototype. I tested the prototypes at South County Hospital, and now I\u2019m working on moving into large-scale manufacturing with MARS Plastics<\/a> in Providence, so this is like a real Rhode Island company. …<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to be attending the Magnet Pathways Conference<\/a> in October in Chicago, and I\u2019ll be in the nurse innovator row with with Looey bringing awareness to the product. Now at this point, people can go on the website, stopthesplash.com<\/a>, and click the order now button put in an inquiry for the product.<\/p>\n When will it be available?<\/p>\n We\u2019ll have product by September. … We\u2019ve had over 50 different hospitals reach out to get more information or samples for trials.<\/p>\n Was it difficult to navigate the process?<\/p>\n I got help with it. The really nice thing about med tech in our little state of Rhode Island is you have so many resources and you have people here who really want to help and see Rhode Island businesses succeed. So between NEMIC and RIHub<\/a> (a group that turns ideas into fundable startups), they\u2019ve been very like instrumental in helping me to bring this to market.<\/p>\n What was it like for your kids to see their mom become an inventor?<\/p>\n I think that it\u2019s really important for them. I have really tried to make them part of what I\u2019m doing, mostly because it\u2019s hard to get the childcare to do it all. I\u2019m still working as a nurse. I\u2019m a mom of two small children, ages 6 and 3, and I\u2019m starting a business from the ground up. So, I really hope that as I\u2019m growing my business, they can look back when they\u2019re older and say, \u201cHey, you know what? Like my mom was kind of like a badass.\u201d And, \u201cI\u2019m inspired to maybe have my own business one day.\u201d<\/p>\n The Boston Globe\u2019s weekly Ocean State Q&A features Rhode Islanders who are starting new businesses or nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, or reshaping the state\u2019s economy. Send tips and suggestions to rinews@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carlos Mu\u00f1oz can be reached at carlos.munoz@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @ReadCarlos<\/a> and on Instagram @Carlosbrknews<\/a>.<\/p>\n