Faced with a shortage of nurses, a rise in high-acuity cases and an increase in labor spend, hospitals and health systems have turned to virtual nursing programs for solutions. Here are 24 statistics tied to virtual nursing models, according to Becker's reporting:
Advocate Health (Charlotte, N.C.): In late 2023, 12 of the organization's 68 hospitals employed virtual nurses who help with admissions and discharge or are available 24/7 to assist patients and caregivers.
Between mid- and late 2023, the system's RN turnover rate improved by 60% and its nurse vacancy rate decreased by 46%.
BJC HealthCare (St. Louis): At the 14-hospital system, virtual RNs assist with admissions, discharges, patient education, mentoring, quality and safety auditing, second RN sign-offs, care coordination, sepsis monitoring, and interdisciplinary rounds. The system launched the virtual nursing pilot at two hospitals in early 2023, rolling it out over five weeks before later expanding.
The program has supported 4,951 inpatient admissions, given bedside nurses 1,650 hours back for direct patient care. Admission documentation rates surpassed 85% and voluntary RN turnover decreased to 6.4%. For the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems score in the courtesy and respect domain of virtual nursing, the system secured a 100%.
CoxHealth (Springfield, Mo.): After a successful 90-day pilot, CoxHealth implemented a virtual care team program in June 2023. These teams consist of nurses, hospitalists, pharmacists and respiratory therapists who monitor patients remotely and interact via camera.
Since the model's launch, the turnover rate fell from about 25% to 11%.
Guthrie Clinic (Sayre, Pa.): The six-hospital system collaborated with Artisight to launch the Pulse Center, a command hub where virtual nurses monitor and communicate with patients, in 2022.
A year and a half later, the organization reduced nurse turnover from 25% to 13%, cut down bedside nurses' administrative tasks by 30 minutes per shift, and saved $7 million in labor costs by decreasing the use of traveling nurses from 172 to 98 full-time employees.
Ochsner Health (New Orleans): Virtual nurses are assigned to 370 med-surg beds at eight of the system's 48 hospitals to help with critical care and discharges, and in the next few months, this workforce will have admissions duties and cover 600 beds. In intensive care units, virtual RNs round on patients through two-way cameras, ensure procedures are performed correctly and alert bedside nurses if a patient is deteriorating or coding.
Since summer 2023, Ochsner's average readmission rate is between 2 to 3 percentage points lower than historical averages, with one month seeing a 5% reduction. The system also improved its Sepsis Risk Adjusted Mortality Index from 1.2 to 0.89.
Providence (Renton, Wash.): At 10 of the system's 51 hospitals, virtual nurses help med-surg teams with admissions, discharges, preprocedural checklists and medication reconciliation. The program, called the Co-Caring model, is set to expand to 17 more hospitals by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
In the Co-Caring units, length of stay declined by 4.9%, equating to 22 to 35 minutes fewer per discharge than non-Co-Caring units. The rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections also decreased. In Co-Caring units, the CAUTI standardized infection ratio is 0.44, and across the system, the median CAUTI SIR is 0.74.
WellSpan Health (York, Pa.): In August 2023, the system piloted its virtual nursing program at WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital. Following its success, the model was launched across the system's seven hospitals. Remote nurses assist with admissions, discharges and inpatient education.
During the pilot phase, the rehab hospital saw a 15% decrease in patient falls, an 11% improvement in nurse turnover and a 21% increase in HCAHPS nurse communication score.
Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health: Over six months, two virtual nurses at the system's Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, Conn., oversaw 898 discharges and 466 admissions in med-surg units. To establish credibility and build trust with bedside nurses, the virtual nurses work three to four days per week remotely and two days a month in person.
The two nurses helped reduce one unit's median length of stay from 5.13 days to 4.7 days. They also improved 11 a.m. discharges from 5.8% to 6.75% in one unit and from 6.78% to 8.53% in the other. Based on the results, Lawrence + Memorial plans to add up to four more virtual nurses to the team.