Virtual Nursing: Transforming Care Delivery in a Challenging Healthcare Landscape
As healthcare systems grapple with rising patient acuity, increased length of stay, and a depleted nursing workforce, Virtual Nursing has emerged as a critical strategy for care delivery transformation. With a 34% increase in adoption rates, the potential of Virtual Nursing is clear – yet many programs remain in the pilot phase, struggling to demonstrate measurable value.
Moving the Needle in Virtual Nursing
Virtual Nursing is more than a technology solution – it's a comprehensive approach to reimagining patient care. AVIA’s analysis reveals five critical strategies for successfully scaling Virtual Nursing programs:
Start with the problem you are trying to solve
Engage a diverse stakeholder group across multiple domains (i.e. clinicians, finance, quality, transfer center, etc.) to align Virtual Nursing with their organizational priorities. These champions should address these four fundamental questions:
Establish and align on a clear operating model
Many of AVIA’s health system members have emphasized the importance of establishing a scalable operating model. This includes a governance structure with clear accountabilities, ownership, and defined roles and responsibilities. It is imperative to determine the operating model and redesign the care team to support virtual nursing. A few questions to consider:
Bring your team together to develop the Virtual Nursing process
For any Virtual Nursing program to succeed, virtual nurses must be fully integrated members of the care team. The key is to build strong relationships between bedside and virtual nurses from the beginning. This means having both groups work side by side to create workflows, develop communication scripts, and shape how the program runs.
When clinical teams take the lead in designing these programs, they're more likely to be widely adopted and successful. Additionally, regular check-ins between virtual and bedside nurses are essential, whether through daily huddles or weekly meetings. Most importantly, the program should remain flexible, so keep communication open and be ready to adapt based on the team's ongoing experience.
Develop a technology strategy
Virtual Nursing uses technology to enhance traditional nursing practices, but success depends on choosing the right tools for your specific needs. Most organizations start small, often using existing equipment like iPads to launch their programs. The key is to be sure the technology supports the workflow; and as programs mature and expand, the technology should evolve too.
The market for Virtual Nursing technology is rapidly growing, with new platform solutions emerging that can support both virtual nursing and broader smart hospital initiatives. When choosing technology, focus first on understanding your organization's specific needs, current technical infrastructure, and potential gaps. Consider what hardware (like cameras and mobile carts) and software you'll need, and whether your existing systems need upgrades. While iPads became the go-to solution during COVID-19, health systems are now exploring more sophisticated options that match their long-term goals.
Define your KPIs and value strategy upfront
Health systems are working to prove the financial value of their Virtual Nursing programs. While research has indicated the value of virtual nursing in reducing turnover, improving documentation compliance, improving HCAHPS scores, and reducing length of stay (LOS), finding the ROI remains a challenge1. Measuring the ROI will require finance leaders to work closely with the teams to ensure virtual nursing outcomes align with financial considerations.
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Success requires a close partnership between finance teams and clinical leaders to connect these improvements to bottom-line benefits. The best approach is to keep it simple: choose just a few key metrics that directly relate to your biggest challenges, measure them before launching your program, and track them consistently over time. For example, if length of stay is a key concern, focus on metrics like average hospital stay duration and time from decision to discharge.
As you scale, integrate Virtual Nursing into the larger Care Model Redesign
Virtual Nursing is evolving far beyond its initial focus on admissions and discharges. As health systems redesign their care models, they are finding new ways for virtual nurses to add value: teaching patients about their care plans, screening for social needs, joining team rounds, and mentoring new nurses. While Virtual Nursing started in hospital units, it is now expanding into emergency departments and outpatient clinics, opening up even more possibilities for care transformation.
Use this checklist to understand if you are ready to move your Virtual Nursing program from pilot to scale:
Looking Ahead: The Future of AI and Virtual Nursing
The need for nurses will only increase as the population ages. New use cases and technologies are evolving every day and exciting new technologies are enabling the acceleration of Virtual Nursing models. As we design smart rooms and leverage advanced AI technologies for documentation, visual detection and monitoring, and clinical decision support, we see endless possibilities.
More than two-thirds of AVIA’s Network recognize the imperative to redesign care models and clinical workforce to meet needs at the patient’s bedside. By prioritizing Virtual Nursing, health systems can address workforce challenges, streamline patient care, and ultimately enhance both patient and provider experiences.
Interested in diving deeper? Consider joining AVIA's Acute Care of the Future forum to explore cutting-edge insights and strategies in Virtual Nursing.
In this forum, we will learn from organizations that have designed efficient and flexible care models that meet the needs and expectations of both patients and providers.
We are well-prepared because our work with AVIA has provided valuable insight into our vendor's capabilities, which greatly factored in during implementation. We feel like we are prepared [for the virtual nursing pilot] because of the work that we did with AVIA -AVIA Member
Tayler Whittler, M.S. is a Manager at AVIA under the Center for Care Transformation team. She is focused on understanding digital health capabilities and developing strategies related to virtual care, care model redesign, and advancing equitable access to care. Tayler draws upon her public health and technology implementation background to build patient-centric strategies, streamline operations, and build sustainable, equitable change.
Linda Lockwood, RN, MBA is a Senior Advisor at AVIA that works with healthcare organizations to understand the intersection between clinical and quality operations. With over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Linda brings a unique skill set to help members solve their most pressing problems. designing systems and processes in a way that supports best practice and regulatory compliance while enabling data aggregation and analysis to measure outcomes and value.
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