Penn Nursing Survey Finds Mixed Results for Virtual Nursing in Hospitals

Overview

• Published Dec. 5 in JAMA Network Open, the study surveyed 880 in-hospital nurses across 10 states about working alongside remote nurses.
• Fifty-seven percent said the programs did not reduce their workload, and 10% reported their workload got worse.
• Fifty-three percent observed improvements in patient care quality, though only 11% said the improvement was substantial.
• Nurses pointed to targeted uses such as patient observation, admissions and discharges, patient education, monitoring, and documentation.
• Study authors said there is no evidence the model safely substitutes for in-person staffing and advised implementation only with sufficient bedside staffing and clear role definitions; the research was funded by NCSBN, NIH’s National Institute of Nursing Research, and AHRQ.