Virtual nursing could be the key to upcoming novel solutions for pressing healthcare issues, according to an article published in AACN Advanced Clinical Care.
"Nursing leaders have an opportunity to think creatively about how virtual nurses can support their colleagues from afar more efficiently and effectively," Mary Tibbe, MSN, RN, manager of the virtual ICU, virtual nursing, Cardiac Monitoring Center and Telesitting programs at Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Corewell Health West, said in a Jan. 23 association news release. "Virtual nurses offer untapped potential to shape the way the nursing profession functions in the future."
Virtual nursing has traditionally focused on clinical decline, disease prevention and reduction of healthcare costs, but advancing technologies allow for greater opportunities.
Here are seven innovative ways hospitals are utilizing virtual nurses:
- Proactive management of patients waiting for admission to the hospital
- Support rapid responses to facilitate stabilization of patients and avoid an ICU transfer
- Act as mentors to novice nurses and support travel nurses
- Assist with recruitment and retention of nurses
- Contribute to patient and nurse satisfaction
- Integrate virtual nurses' workflow into the patient record
- Decrease the average 24-hour fluid balance of patients with increased monitoring by virtual nurses