The ongoing nursing shortage, intensified by the challenges brought on by the pandemic, has pushed healthcare facilities to explore innovative solutions. As staffing shortages weigh heavily on nurses, leading to widespread burnout and fatigue, healthcare organizations are proactively seeking ways to close the gap, enhance job satisfaction, and maintain high-quality patient care.
Enter virtual nursing, a hybrid care model that healthcare systems are implementing to support bedside nurses and alleviate their workloads.
Virtual nursing, similar to Telehealth, utilizes videoconferencing technology to deliver nursing remotely at the bedside. Virtual nurses help field inpatient administrative tasks, allowing bedside nurses to devote their full attention to critical cases and direct patient care.
The specific tasks that virtual RNs perform can vary widely based on the unique needs of each healthcare facility. Some hospitals employ virtual nurses for patient admissions and discharge education, while others utilize them for remote patient monitoring or as family support liaisons. Some organizations even opt for a combination of these functions. Given that virtual nursing is a relatively new concept, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. There’s significant flexibility and potential for its applications.
As HealthcareITNews highlights, “virtual nursing improves patient coverage by putting eyes and ears in every room. It empowers patients and care team members at the bedside to bring in clinical reinforcement, specialists, translators, and patient family members virtually when needed.”
Importantly, virtual nursing doesn't replace bedside nurses; it complements and supplements their efforts, enhancing care delivery and optimizing task distribution.
Virtual nursing represents a transformative shift in healthcare delivery. It addresses the critical needs of nurses and healthcare organizations by providing a lifeline for nurses seeking new ways to deliver high-quality care.
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