Renton, Wash.-based Providence is rolling out a new virtual nursing program across eight hospitals after a successful pilot at a Texas facility.
Covenant Medical Center, a 381-bed tertiary hospital, in Lubbock, Texas, implemented the Co-Caring hybrid nursing model in 2021. The program includes a virtual nurse who can communicate with the patient and bedside team via video and audio, helping with admissions, discharges, preprocedural checklists, medication reconciliation, and interdisciplinary team meetings.
"The past three years dramatically transformed our industry and workforce in ways that accelerated the modernization of care," Syl Trepanier, DNP, RN, chief nursing officer of Providence, in a June 6 news release. "Co-Caring represents an innovative solution to one of healthcare's most pressing issues — the increased need for nurses, which for the United States is currently estimated at more than 200,000 new nurses required each year to account for population growth."
Since Covenant Medical Center started the pilot, first-year turnover rates declined 73 percent for registered nurses and 55 percent for all employees on the unit. It will expand the program to a second unit, while Providence is bringing Co-Caring to these hospitals:
Providence St. Peter's Medical Center (Olympia, Wash.)
Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (Wash.)
Providence Alaska Medical Center (Anchorage)
Providence Centralia (Wash.) Hospital
Swedish Cherry Hill (Seattle)
Providence Medford (Ore.) Medical Center
Kadlec (Richland, Wash.)
Holy Family Hospital (Spokane, Wash.)