Nurses' creativity often leads to new ideas for patient care. In the 20th century, nurses championed feeding tubes, ostomy bags, crash carts, color-coded IV lines, and the ubiquitous Wong-Baker FACES® Pain Rating Scale.
Now, nurses are seeking innovative ways to deliver care to ever more complex patients in the face of a growing workforce shortage. To change the care delivery model, some hospitals are using virtual nursing to create efficiencies while maintaining excellence in patient outcomes.
A challenging landscape
During the pandemic, nurses left the profession at an alarming rate. A research project by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing found 100,000 nurses quit during the pandemic. Recent studies indicate the nursing workforce rebounded in 2022 and 2023 with total RN employment 6% higher than 2019 and long-range projections in line with pre-pandemic forecasts.
Even as the workforce appears to be stabilizing, the nursing labor supply remains tenuous. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 200,000 registered nurses will be needed each year until 2033 to fill vacancies created by those leaving the profession and growth in the health care sector due to an aging population.
- To address these projected nursing shortages, hospitals need solutions for multiple workforce-related challenges.
- To retain the existing nurses, hospitals must reduce administrative burdens that influence burn-out.
- To develop newer nurses' confidence, hospitals must support them without overwhelming their more experienced peers.
- To avoid significant costs, hospitals must decrease contract nurse utilization.
Virtual nursing as a solution
Virtual nursing may hold an answer to some of these challenges. By using technology to bring a nurse into a patient room remotely, hospitals can alleviate many of the challenges associated with bedside care. For example, virtual nurses can give discharge instructions to families, thereby freeing up bedside nurses to provide hands-on care.
| Staffing challenges | Skill mix | Patient needs |
|---|---|---|
| • Nurses often want non-bedside roles. • Nurses are taking travel assignments. • Nurses are experiencing burnout. |
• Nurses have a prolonged orientation. • Young nurses are not at the same level of readiness. • Tenured nurses teach new nurses while providing patient care. |
• Patients are sicker and more complex. • Hospital census often exceeds capacity. • Throughput challenges impact length of stay. |
Learn from peers
While still a relatively new role in children's hospitals, some are using virtual nurses to support bedside nurses. Three early adopters share their early learnings and tips for success.
Virtual Nursing at Akron Children’s Hospital
After a successful pilot, the hospital will expand virtual nursing to five additional units.
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Virtual Nursing at Texas Children’s Hospital
The hospital is using virtual nursing in the NICU to free up bedside nurses to provide direct care.
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Virtual Nursing at Boston Children’s Hospital
Remote resource nurses were piloted in two units as part of a broader learning and action network.
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