Power Surge: How Virtual Nursing Can Recharge the Front Lines

Healthcare delivery relies on the power of nurses. In a 12-hour shift, they assess patients, provide physical care, monitor patient health data for concerning trends or emergencies, administer medications, collaborate with specialists, train staff members, complete paperwork, educate and advocate for patients, schedule appointments, obtain insurance authorization, respond to emergencies and more – all with the knowledge that missing even the slightest detail could profoundly impact a patient’s health.

Nurses must hustle, think on their feet, and thrive in chaos while showing compassion, communicating complex information and, most importantly, quickly responding when a patient needs them.

Today’s nurses are master multi-taskers. However, the job’s intellectual, physical and emotional demands are taking a toll. Consider:

• 56% of nurses say they feel burned out and emotionally exhausted. Nearly 65% say they feel significant stress because of their job. These widespread feelings tie to increased workloads, staffing shortages and a lack of organizational support.
• The nursing shortage is predicted to continue through 2037, with a staffing shortfall of more than 78,600 full-time RNs in 2025 and more than 63,720 full-time RNs by 2030.
• As of 2023, 41% of nurses said they planned to leave the profession within the next two years.
• Nurses typically spend two to five years in bedside care before transitioning to nursing administration. This further depletes the pool of clinicians available to meet the greater demand for patient care, given the country’s growing aging population and increased rate of chronic disease.
• More than 65,000 qualified students didn’t receive acceptance letters to nursing school in 2023 due to a lack of educators, budget and clinical training sites. This exacerbates the problem of having enough clinical nurses in the workforce pipeline to meet the rising care demands of tomorrow.

Innovative healthcare providers are changing these trends with technology. They’re maximizing the power of nurses by leveraging virtual nursing and eSitting solutions. The embedded technology eases the organizational and administrative burden on clinicians, simplifies care coordination, boosts operational efficiency, gives nurses more time for patient care, and the opportunity to mentor early-career clinicians.

Care team coordination, bedside optional  

Nurses are the link between patients and the various teams involved in the care plan, whether social work, nutrition, behavioral health, physical therapy or another service. Working together on patient care activities requires communication and access to the patient – but team coordination doesn’t require a physical bedside presence. A virtual nursing solution ensures the smooth flow of information and care plan coordination with specialists, providers and healthcare professionals across health systems or geographic boundaries.

Minimize administrative tasks, optimize the workforce  

Admissions, transfers, discharges and other administrative duties are all essential healthcare tasks, but they also chip away at nurses’ time for patient care. A virtual nursing solution supports the digital completion of these tasks, giving nurses more time to spend with the patients who need them. Minimizing administrative duties optimizes the workforce, providing under-resourced clinical teams with much-needed staffing support.

Virtual rounding: less footwork, more patient face time 

Bedside rounding, education and consultations can be time-consuming. With virtual rounding, nurses can check in with lower-risk patients without visiting every patient room. This lets them focus their time at the bedside on patients with complex, urgent or high-risk conditions. One pilot study reported in the Journal of Nursing Administration found that using virtual nurses for patient education and discharge increases the satisfaction of patients and nurses while reducing the risk of adverse events and clinician turnover rates.

Mentorship that works anywhere 

Along with mastering key concepts in the classroom, newer nurses must gain hands-on experience and guidance from those with decades of clinical experience. But this nurse-to-nurse knowledge transfer doesn’t have to happen in person.

With a virtual nursing solution, there’s no hospital hallway required. Experienced clinicians can teach and mentor early career professionals remotely as they provide bedside care. This in-the-moment support ensures proper training, enhances patient safety, reinforces care quality standards, and facilitates the transfer of knowledge from one workforce generation to the next.

One chief nursing officer shared how her organization successfully facilitated virtual mentorship and training. An experienced nurse on her team considered leaving the profession due to family demands and feelings of burnout. Instead, now she virtually mentors younger nurses while balancing the needs of her family without leaving home.

Partnerships, grants and other funding sources  

The benefits of a virtual nursing solution reach all corners of an organization. Outside resources can be a financial lifeline when securing this technology is a priority – but so are other organizational needs. Apply for federal grants, consider public/private partnerships and explore ways to collaborate with academic institutions.

One Georgia health system partnered with a local nursing school to fund the system’s virtual nursing solution. The health system developed an externship pairing students at the bedside with virtual one-on-one mentors. Students earn valuable hands-on training in their field, and the entire health system benefits from the technology.

Recharging nurses: from burnout to breakthrough 

Nursing’s mental, emotional and physical demands are negatively impacting its workforce. Feelings of burnout and exhaustion are a common current among clinicians. A nursing shortage plagues the industry, and it will be almost 2040 before this gap closes. Without immediate change, healthcare faces a professional crisis that will only be made worse by the growing aging population and the climbing rate of chronic disease.

A virtual nursing solution can minimize time spent on administrative tasks, optimize the workforce, and pass the torch from one generation of nurses to the next to keep the experience in the field. Most importantly, this technology frees nurses to spend more time with patients, surging the quality, compassionate and supportive care they can provide.

Leveraging the power of virtual nursing, we can recharge these vital care team members and take them from burnout to breakthrough.