Virtual care platforms have many benefits for nurses, patients, and their families, say these healthcare leaders.
Many organizations are turning to virtual nursing to address staffing and wellbeing, and with the current trajectory virtual care will be an integral part of the future of healthcare.
The use of telemedicine following the COVID-19 pandemic kick started the virtual nursing movement. And while some systems are just getting started, many have been utilizing virtual nursing for years and continue to expand.
Here are the benefits of virtual nursing, according to Steve Klahn, system clinical director for virtual medicine at Houston Methodist, Jesus Cepero, CNO at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, and Dr. Shakira Henderson, dean and chief administrative officer and associate vice president for nursing education, practice, and research at the University of Florida College of Nursing, and the system CNE of UF Health.
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G Hatfield is the CNO editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Within the next five to 10 years, more than half of all nursing positions could be entirely virtual or have some kind of virtual component, which will only expand thereafter.
Care delivery models will have virtual nursing fully integrated and will involve support from remote nurses and new ways of collecting patient information.
Virtual nursing has the potential to impact staffing by eliminating contract labor and serving as a flexible scheduling and education tool for both new nurses and tenured nurses.