Virtual Nurses Are Coming to a Hospital Near You
Fact checked by Nick Blackmer
Key Takeaways
Virtual nursing is being implemented in hospitals across the United States.
Virtual nurses are real human RNs who communicate with patients from remote locations.
Many TVs in patient rooms are used for Zoom-like patient communication with their healthcare team. Overall, patients have reported positive experiences.
In many hospitals across the country, the television in your room may do more than provide entertainment; it may also host a member of your care team.
Virtual nursing is designed to free bedside nurses from mundane tasks, allowing them to dedicate more time to critical nursing tasks. A virtual nurse is a real human registered nurse, not an AI robot.
While the concept of virtual nursing is not new, it has springboarded into popularity as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing nurse staffing shortages.
“Virtual nursing will be in many hospitals across the country in the coming years,” Sandy Alexander, RN, an associate nursing officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told Verywell. “It will help healthcare organizations retain experienced nurses who no longer want to work 12-hour shifts at the bedside.”
Related: 12 Different Kinds of Nursing Jobs
What Is Virtual Nursing?
Virtual nursing is a new health systems model that uses experienced nurses in remote roles to help support bedside nurses with patient care. Similar to telehealth, virtual nursing has been around for a while, but its post-pandemic popularity is starting to rise, with about 34% of healthcare systems now using some form of virtual nursing.
Erin Green, RN, executive director of digital health clinical operations at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, told Verywell that virtual nursing has been a long-standing program at Froedtert since 2005. That’s when they launched a “Virtual ICU” to help relieve staff burden from rising patient volumes and acuity, as well as a diminishing workforce.
Since then, virtual nursing programs have evolved to relieve the bedside nurse of several time-consuming tasks, which in the ICU setting include:
Nurse triage
RN-RN consultation
Admission assessment support
ICU-general care transfer support
Watch List support
For nursing units outside the ICU setting, virtual nursing tasks may include:
Admission database entry
Discharge teaching
Medication reconciliation
Patient education and teaching
Contacting families
Answering questions
While patients have the right to decline a virtual nurse for aspects of their care, healthcare professionals familiar with virtual nursing say that public support of the program has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Our patients are enjoying the dedicated time with a real (human) nurse who is walking them through either admission type intake and/or discharge education,” Steve Klahn, RN, virtual medicine-clinical director at Houston Methodist, told Verywell. “We have supported over 100,000 patient encounters since program inception, and the program is continuing to grow.”
Related: Virtual Reality in Physical Therapy
How Virtual Nursing Works
The television in the patient’s room acts as a portal for communication between the patient, family members, and other members of the care team with a nurse who is typically located in a different section of the hospital or, in some cases, at home.
The virtual nurse format typically looks like a Zoom call where all parties can see each other. According to Alexander, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a TV will turn gray when the virtual nurse initiates a call, making it clear they’re requesting access to a patient’s room. Once the nurse gets verbal permission from someone in the room, the camera will turn on, allowing for two-way communication. When the call is complete, the camera will turn off, and the TV will turn to its original state.
The nurse can add other family members who are not on-site to the call, allowing multiple parties the ability to stay informed and ask questions.
Privacy is a big concern to both patients and hospital staff. To combat security concerns, Alexander explains that:
The virtual platform runs over a secure and protected network within the hospital
Calls are not recorded in any way
The virtual nurse asks permission before initiating an in-room call
Virtual nurses wear headsets so no one else is able to hear the conversation
Related: Would You Try Costco Virtual Healthcare? What to Know About Retailer-Sponsored Telehealth
How Do Nurses Feel About This Approach?
During the pandemic, many hospitals around the country pivoted to virtual nursing to allow for social distancing and remote interaction with patient’s families. The implementation of virtual nursing programs has also been a positive response to growing nursing shortages, especially for bedside nurses experiencing burnout, leading many to quit the profession altogether.
“We have reallocated a fairly large amount of administrative work the bedside nurses were doing over to our remote team of virtual nurses,” Klahn said. “This frees the bedside nurses to focus more on the hands-on types of activities that their patients need.”
In addition to decreasing feelings of nurse burnout, the virtual nurse can also act as a mentor to novice nurses who have just entered the profession. “Expert nurses in a virtual nursing role can pull work from the beside RN and be available to the earlier career nurse for consultation and coaching,” Alexander said. “It allows experienced nurses to mentor, educate, and guide novice nurses on established standards-of care procedures, nursing interventions, and be partners for critically thinking about the patient situation.”
While this program is groundbreaking for many nurses, there are also barriers that could make implementing a virtual nursing program tricky. These barriers might include:
Virtual nurses need to be highly experienced and have strong communication skills
Nurses will need good technology skills
Hospitals will need to invest a lot of money up front for new technology
“We really feel this is a game-changer for nursing,” Klahn said. “We completed a staff nurse satisfaction survey with over 100 nurses overwhelmingly rated the program as positive. There are constant requests for expansion of services.”
Related: Who Is Amazon Clinic For?
What to Do If You Encounter Virtual Nursing
Since the popularity of virtual nurses is growing, there is a good chance you might engage with a remote nurse in a healthcare facility near you.
If the TV turns gray in your room, don’t be alarmed; chances are you are about to meet your virtual nurse.
Some things that might be discussed with a virtual nurse could include:
Symptoms you are having
Medications you are taking
Your pain level
Various demographic questions
Education about your condition
What is your plan of care
Questions you may have about your health status
What This Means For You
If you find yourself or a loved one in the hospital, chances are you will have a virtual nurse as a member of your healthcare team to help with your admission, discharge, and answering all your questions.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
