Virtual Nursing: Changing the Definition of Care
Virtual nursing and healthcare services are changing the way healthcare is delivered. They provide patients with access to health services and care from the comfort of their own homes or another place of their choice, providing an alternative to in-person visits. Access to virtual care services act as an enabling factor for persons seeking care in all types of settings and for all types of reasons. This is especially important in today's world where the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of providing people with accessible and timely healthcare services. The pandemic also highlighted existing workforce challenges and virtual care services can provide critical support to in-person healthcare providers in a variety of care settings.
One of the key ways virtual nursing and care services can help support the in-person workforce is by providing an alternative for routine appointments or enquiries, freeing up time for in-person providers to focus on more complex cases and care. There were many times during a shift when I would have multiple call buttons going off at once, and you would have to guess at which one was likely to be the most urgent. The others would just have to wait, often not knowing if I was coming or when. My colleagues would often help out and at least stick their head in the door to do a quick check-in when they could, but they had busy workloads with many of their own patient call bells to attend to as well. Having a virtual nurse who could check in with those patients, find out if they were ok, manage routine and simple enquiries and send messages to the nurses and care workers on the floor would have been helpful to both staff and patients, and improved quality of, and satisfaction with, the care provided.
Virtual nursing services can include telehealth consultations, remote monitoring, and virtual rehabilitation. Telehealth consultations allow patients to connect with their healthcare providers using video conferencing technology, eliminating the need for in-person visits. Remote monitoring allows healthcare providers to monitor a patient's vital signs and health status remotely, providing early warning signs of potential health problems. Virtual rehabilitation services allow patients to receive physical therapy, mental health support, and other treatments from their own homes.
The benefits of virtual nursing and healthcare services are numerous, including:
Increased access to healthcare, particularly for those who live in rural or remote areas or have mobility restrictions.
Reduction in the spread of infectious diseases.
Providing a more convenient and cost-effective alternative to traditional healthcare.
Allowing healthcare providers to reach a wider patient base, enabling them to provide more care to more people.
For healthcare organisations, virtual nursing and healthcare services can:
Reduce the number of in-person visits required, especially for routine care or care that does not need to be delivered in-person,
Free up clinicians on the ground to focus their time and expertise on those most in need of in-person care and reducing wait times for patients.
Improve patient engagement and satisfaction with care provided, and enhance the overall quality of care provided.
Virtual nursing and healthcare services have delivered a world of opportunity as providers in how we deliver care and as patients in how we access care, however, it is important to consider what care models are practical, sustainable and beneficial to the patient cohorts and communities we wish to serve.
I’m planning to outline some of these care models further in future articles, including increasing the reach of the residential aged care workforce, as we explore how virtual healthcare services can play an increasingly important role in changing the definition of sustainable care now and into the future.
Originally published March 2023: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/virtual-nursing-changing-definition-care-kathryn-o-neill/
