Not even a year into its virtual nursing and telesitting journey, WellSpan Health has already achieved significant improvements.
The York, Pa.-based system first piloted use of AI-driven virtual sitters and virtual nursing technology at WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital in August 2023. Virtual nurses have significantly supported their colleagues at the bedside, facilitating processes such as admissions, discharges and inpatient education. On average, they save other nurses about two hours per shift, allowing them to devote more time to direct patient care tasks.
WellSpan uses Artisight's smart hospital platform for virtual care. Care team members worked closely with the company to customize the platform's algorithms to meet the specific needs of their care settings.
During the pilot period, WellSpan's rehab hospital saw a 15% decrease in patient falls, an 11% improvement in nurse turnover and a 21% increase in HCAHPS scores related to nurse communication.
In one instance, a virtual observer identified a patient going into respiratory distress and promptly alerted the rapid response team before the individual's condition deteriorated to a code blue. In another, a virtual nurse witnessed a patient remove their IV as part of an elopement attempt and alerted unit staff before any harm occurred.
Based on the pilot's success, WellSpan is now expanding virtual nursing and sitting to all acute care settings across its seven hospitals, according to Kasey Paulus, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing executive of WellSpan.
"Our patients really appreciate having the opportunity to connect with a virtual nurse and have uninterrupted time to get all their questions answered," she told Becker's. "We've seen really great feedback from our nurses in really feeling supported through this technology."