Virtual Nursing Models: What They Are and How to Prepare Nurses

Gone are the days when healthcare systems were simply experimenting with virtual nursing models. In today’s evolving technology landscape, they’re quickly demonstrating significant strides in patient care.

A healthcare system in Virginia is set up to monitor more than 2,300 hospital beds through virtual nursing, with many nurses working away from the bedside. It may seem counterintuitive or like taking the “care” out of patient care, but this model is building a foundational layer to advanced interventions and increased healthcare access.

What is a virtual nursing model? Why do they matter? Is there any evidence that they work? How does the nursing workforce get ready for this? Let’s dive in.

This blog post is inspired by the Healthcare Leadership Webinar Series hosted by American College of Education (ACE), featuring national healthcare thought leader and ACE Ed.D. candidate Geoffrey Roche in conversation with nursing education expert Dr. Kimarie Jeffreys. We invite readers to view this impactful discussion.

What Is Virtual Nursing and Digital-First Care?

Virtual nursing is a technology-based care model where licensed nurses monitor, assess, educate and support patients remotely while collaborating closely with bedside care teams. Oftentimes, virtual nurses work within the same system, offering clinical oversight and patient support without being physically present. This framework is a component of larger digital-first care strategies.

Leading healthcare systems recognize that this approach supports today’s patient care needs – as opposed to simply integrating learning management systems or electronic health records. In other words, it’s an essential starting point to enhancing healthcare delivery with digital tools, connected technologies and collaboration at the forefront of clinical workflows.

Virtual Nursing vs. Telehealth vs. Remote Patient Monitoring

Although sometimes used interchangeably, it’s important to understand differences between key digital healthcare terms – virtual nursing, telehealth and remote patient monitoring. Many healthcare systems and organizations combine all three into comprehensive models.

• Virtual nursing: Licensed nurses collaborating remotely with bedside teams to monitor patients, provide education, coordinate care and support clinical decision-making
• Telehealth: Broader delivery of healthcare services like physician visits, behavioral health sessions and specialist consultations using telecommunications technology
• Remote patient monitoring (RPM): Leveraging connected devices to collect patient data outside of traditional clinical settings, including at home

Why Virtual Nursing Matters Now

There are many reasons why today’s healthcare landscape presents a strong opportunity to encourage virtual nursing models. Four key drivers standout.

Expanding Access to Care

In rural, tribal and underserved communities, specialist and experienced nurse shortages impact access to quality care. Countries like Australia and Germany have already normalized virtual nursing and demonstrated its ability to reach more patients. Some American hospitals have doctors in other countries reading and interpreting test results for more timely interventions.

Easing the Staffing Crisis

Addressing specialist scarcity and nursing shortages is about more than filling positions but allocating clinical expertise strategically.

Virtual nurses offer additional clinical resources as a second set of eyes for monitoring multiple patients, allowing bedside nurses to focus on direct care. Similarly, virtual providers can assess, consult and monitor patients remotely to decrease treatment delays. This is especially helpful in specialties with less clinicians.

Improving the Patient Experience

Technology is sometimes criticized for taking nurses away from patients, but virtual nursing is flipping the script with key healthcare optimizations like shifting documentation, admissions, discharges, education and ongoing monitoring to remote care teams. This model doesn’t replace bedside nurses. It frees them up to spend more time with patients.

Responding to Cost Pressures

Insurance is an ongoing pain point for healthcare systems. As they continue to face pressure from Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payers, digital-first care strategies can reduce unnecessary hospitalizations, improve care coordination and leverage clinical resources effectively.

What Virtual Nursing Looks Like in Practice

Healthcare systems who have integrated virtual nursing models are seeing impactful results. For example:

• When a patient arrives at the emergency department in crisis, comprehensive interventions come into play. Bedside clinicians execute immediate stabilization, de-escalation and emergency procedures while a virtual psychiatric nurse and/or provider observes remotely. The virtual team then reviews patient history, orders additional assessments and supports the bedside team with next steps.
• Intensive care unit patients need continuous monitoring of ventilator settings, medications, dialysis treatments, lab tests and vital signs. While a bedside nurse makes regular rounds, critical care virtual nurses observe equipment and technology when bedside nurses aren’t in the room. Having extra oversight can prevent failure to rescue scenarios.

Keeping Care Person-Centered

Digital-first models are designed to not only maintain person-centered care but enhance it. Bedside nurses remain the primary decision-makers for determining when virtual assistance is in the patient’s best interest. Virtual nurses are not intended to replace their in-person colleagues but rather to develop the patient experience into a more comprehensive, supportive and effective care response.

Does Virtual Nursing Actually Work?

Early results from healthcare systems demonstrate that virtual nursing can improve both workforce and patient outcomes.

• Houston Methodist Hospital: Implemented AI-enabled virtual care platforms including the Acute Care Telenurse program to optimize admission and discharge processes in understaffed units, open access to specialist consultations, and alert bedside teams of potential risks
  • Results: Enhanced patient experience, improved nurse satisfaction, saved bedside nurse time, increased daytime discharges
• Advocate Aurora Health: Incorporated virtual nurses to rotate with bedside nurses on the same unit and reassigned tasks that could be completed remotely
  • Results: Improved patient experience, saved bedside nurse time, reduced nurse turnover
• Akron Children’s Hospital: Launched the Virtual Nursing Pilot Project and leveraged AI for inpatient units to support bedside nursing staff with documentation, medication management and patient education
  • Results: Identified and reduced safety risks, saved time, optimized documentation and patient education processes

The Workforce Readiness Gap

Technology integrations raise the question of whether the existing workforce and new nursing graduates are equipped for an evolving healthcare environment.

A Shared Responsibility

There are two key parties who are responsible for ensuring both current and future nurses are prepared for digital-first care models. Healthcare systems and higher education institutions must invest in workforce development opportunities that ensure current nurses receive implementation support and future nurses build digital competencies.

Faculty Currency Matters

To effectively equip nurses for digital healthcare, the faculty leading them also need to understand and stay abreast of evolving clinical technologies. This starts with the systems they use to teach. Curriculum redesign can take years, but integrating digital tools into existing courses can empower nursing students to leverage technology in practice.

To those in healthcare settings, there's always room for partnerships. Share resources with one another. Academic institutions may have research you haven't discovered yet because you're busy implementing. Lean on one another and create pipelines that generate scalable workforces.

Dr. Kimarie Jeffreys

How Nursing Programs Can Prepare Practice-Ready Nurses

Nurse educators don’t have to initiate massive curriculum overhauls to integrate clinical technology skill development into coursework. For example, they can have students:

• Document observations electronically
• Use digital collaboration tools with classmates
• Simulate virtual nursing interactions

Scenario-Based and Work-Based Assignments

Expanding work-based assignments allows coursework to become practical and applicable in real-world situations. Concepts become more relevant when classroom knowledge connects directly to clinical practice.

For example, nurse educators can create case scenarios that involve a virtual nurse. Students can evaluate how bedside and virtual nurses collaborate during an admission or develop care plans that incorporate remote monitoring technology.

Keys to Successful Adoption for Healthcare Leaders

Integrating any new system, process or technology can come with challenges, so it’s helpful to develop a strategy that can support success. For example, leaders can:

• Involve nurses from the start by asking them what challenges need addressing and how virtual support can improve patient care. Overlooking clinician input can generate frustration and burnout.
• Invite head and charge nurses to lead implementation with interprofessional contributions from nurses, physicians, administrators and technology teams. Creating a strong, sustainable workflow from the start is essential.
• Educate patients and families to build comfort and trust. Virtual care is new to them too, so answering questions thoroughly and explaining processes clearly can help.

Preparing for the Future of Nursing

No matter the industry, technology is no longer emerging but growing rapidly. Virtual nursing is here, and as evidence continues to prove its effectiveness, readiness will become the deciding factor of its success.

Healthcare systems are calling upon digital-first models to enhance patient care, improve specialty treatment access, strengthen clinical teams and make better use of limited healthcare resources. Its intent is to support bedside care and build a stronger pathway to meaningful patient outcomes.

FAQs

Building the nursing landscape of tomorrow starts with education. American College of Education (ACE) offers innovative, quality nursing programs designed to equip registered nurses with advanced skills, competencies and strategies. Affordable online courses and local practicums allow working nurses to pursue career advancement in a cost-effective and flexible way.