As a bedside nurse turned nursing informaticist, I see firsthand the toll that demanding workloads, long shifts, and lack of leadership support take on our amazing nurses. The American Nurses Foundation reports that over half of nurses experience burnout, forcing hospitals to rethink how they deliver care and support their frontline heroes. It's about time.
Virtual nursing is emerging as a potential game-changer. It's a technology-driven approach empowering nurses to deliver excellent patient care through consultations, health monitoring, and guidance via telehealth and other communication or monitoring tools. This hybrid model isn't designed to replace bedside nurses (that'll never happen!), it's about empowering them to thrive.
Nurses want – and still want – to provide care
Nurses aren't leaving the workforce because they want to. Let's be honest. They didn't enter this profession to be overwhelmed with the constant barrage of regulatory requirements and endless administrative duties. They became nurses because they wanted to provide compassionate care in an environment that fosters teamwork and allows them to focus on what they love
Virtual nursing promises to relieve pressure on bedside nurses and is crucial in improving retention, recruitment, and patient outcomes. It's a win-win for all nurses to have time back in their day to fulfill their passion for patient care or mentorship by alleviating some of the documentation burden and providing direct care or support to bedside staff.
Some models use virtual assessments, where nurses digitally "knock" before conducting routine conversation, and others integrate virtual nursing stations to provide on-site staff with administrative and communication support. There's no one-size-fits-all approach!
Trinity Health, for example, has an amazing virtual nursing program demonstrating how nurses want to stay in the industry. I heard recently at our Healthcare Operations Summit that the average age of their virtual nurses is 57! Nurses still want to make an impact on patient care.
Care delivery transformation isn't about increasing the workforce by 10%
The answer to the nursing shortage isn't about needing a few (hundred thousand) more nurses. Like decreasing carbon emissions, it's not about finding ways to conserve gas usage. It's about introducing electric cars or communities where driving isn't necessary.
The reality is that nurses are stretched thin, and we're running out of them. We don't have enough students in the pipeline to replace them. By next year, the nursing shortage may rise to 450,000 nurses for direct patient care. Virtual nursing has the potential to extend the reach of our current workforce, allowing their expertise to benefit more patients and nurses.
A team of virtual nurses can support multiple hospitals within a system, easing scheduling demands and allowing nurse managers to proactively address staffing gaps. This not only creates more efficient operations but also eases the workloads of bedside nurses, so they have more time to spend with patients or can take a 30-minute lunch break.
Another overlooked benefit of virtual nursing is the invaluable mentorship opportunities it provides. Picture this scenario: a new nurse facing an unfamiliar medication at 2 a.m., struggling to find help. With virtual nursing, they have a 24/7 support system guiding them through procedures and best practices. Our nurses should always feel like they have someone to lean on and collaborate with in moments of need, which will go a long way in keeping them in the workforce.
Look at Advocate Health. The health system has implemented virtual nursing at more than 10 hospitals and credits these models to improving their turnover rate by 60%, and their RN vacancy rate has decreased by 46% as of December 2023.
Virtual nursing is a powerful tool, but it's only one piece of the puzzle
As care models shift to flexible staffing options and team-based approaches, technology must continue to adapt and evolve alongside them to continue solving burnout, retention, and other care delivery challenges.
According to McKinsey, technology enablement in areas like documentation and interdisciplinary communication could free nurses up to 20% of their valuable time per shift. Today, too many nurses are drowning in disparate systems and processes, preventing them from delivering patient care.
AONL, for example, reports that nurse managers spend 60-80% of their time on recruitment, staffing, and scheduling alone. Smart investment in consolidating technology, streamlining operations, and facilitating clinical communication and collaboration is critical to unlocking a more efficient workforce.
Embracing emerging technology platforms and virtual models has quickly gone from a luxury to a strategic imperative. We must do everything in our power to help nurses entirely or partially automate administrative tasks so we can redirect their time savings to the most important and rewarding aspect of their job – delivering exceptional patient care.