Hospitals in the U.S. are having trouble finding enough nurses. The Health Resources and Services Administration says there will be a shortage of 78,610 full-time registered nurses by 2025. Also, about 900,000 nurses may leave their jobs by 2027 because they are burned out or retiring. This makes the work harder for the nurses who stay, which can affect patient safety and cause more nurses to quit.
Hospital leaders are starting to see that virtual nursing can help with these problems. A survey by AvaSure found that 74% of hospital leaders think virtual nursing will be very important for patient care in hospitals. But only about 10% of hospitals and 14% of IT leaders have fully added virtual nursing to their care systems. Many hospitals are testing virtual care, showing it might be used more in the near future.
Many hospitals start virtual nursing with “virtual sitting.” This means watching patients from afar using video and audio. The goal is to keep patients safe and cut costs from one-on-one watchers.
Data shows virtual sitting works well. Hospitals that switch up to 75% of in-person watchers to virtual ones can save more than $2.5 million a year in a typical 250-bed hospital. Virtual sitting has also cut patient falls by half, which improves safety. For example, St. Luke’s Duluth saved $1.5 million in 2023 with their virtual sitting program while lowering patient falls and cutting costs.
Virtual sitting not only saves money but also helps nurses feel less tired and stressed. This can help keep nurses from quitting. The turnover rate for nursing assistants is about 42%, so lowering stress is important.
Virtual nursing does more than watch patients. Virtual nurses help bedside nurses by doing admission and discharge tasks, managing records, and educating patients.
HCA Healthcare used virtual nursing in 12 of their 68 hospitals. They saw nursing turnover improve by 60% and vacancies drop by 46%. Virtual nurses do more of the paperwork and other tasks, letting bedside nurses spend more time with patients.
Patients also like virtual nursing. Pilot programs found 100% positive feedback from patients. Better discharge talks helped lower patient readmissions. Virtual nurses often work from home three to four days a week and can do up to two patient-related tasks per hour. This helps nurses enjoy their jobs more and want to keep working.
Virtual nursing helps hospitals with more than clinical work. It also helps with hospital operations. Shortages in workers and more patients make it hard to manage beds, patient flow, and discharges.
Virtual nursing improves communication and care coordination. It is especially helpful during admissions and discharges, times when workflows often get interrupted. Hospitals that use virtual care say discharge processes run smoother, patients leave sooner, and beds get used faster. This lets hospitals treat more patients without hiring more staff.
Virtual nursing also offers mentoring, especially during night shifts or times with fewer staff. Experienced nurses can support less experienced ones remotely. This helps new nurses feel more confident and gives better patient care.
Virtual command centers are places where hospitals use data, artificial intelligence (AI), and real-time monitoring to run operations better. Virtual nursing is an important part of these centers. It helps watch patients and supports clinical decisions.
Guthrie Clinic saw benefits after using a virtual command center. They cut transfer delays by 20% by matching staff to patient needs better. These centers use dashboards that show bed availability and patient severity. This helps hospitals manage space efficiently.
With AI tools, staff can predict patient surges, estimate when patients will be discharged, and plan staffing better. This leads to better schedules, less staff burnout, and less need for expensive temporary nurses.
Command centers also help with auditing and following rules, reducing paperwork for nurses. This helps hospitals meet standards set by agencies like CMS and The Joint Commission.
Artificial intelligence and automation help make virtual nursing work well and grow.
These tools can do repeated, time-heavy tasks such as writing notes, scheduling, and talking with patients through conversational AI that acts like a human. This lets nurses focus on more important patient care.
LeanTaaS is a company leading AI in healthcare. They use AI and data to improve how hospitals use operating rooms, infusion centers, and beds. Their “iQueue” program helps hospitals make more money — about $100,000 more per operating room and $20,000 per infusion chair each year — by better scheduling and using resources.
AI also helps by balancing workloads and lowering nurse burnout. Hospitals report fewer missed breaks, less overtime, and fewer cancellations. This helps keep nurses happy and working longer.
Generative AI helps with clinical work by quickly gathering patient data for teams. This speeds up patient care and lowers errors from poor communication.
Hospital leaders want projects that show clear return on investment (ROI). Virtual nursing gives both direct savings and indirect financial benefits through better patient results and smoother operations.
Together, these results show that virtual nursing is not just about cutting costs but also making hospitals stronger and patient care better.
While virtual nursing offers clear financial benefits, hospitals need to plan carefully and work well together to make it succeed.
Nursing informatics is important to build and improve virtual nursing. This field combines nursing, computer, and information sciences to improve workflows and care using technology.
Nursing informaticists connect bedside nurses, IT experts, and hospital leaders. They design digital tools, manage virtual nursing workflows, and study clinical data to keep improving care.
As virtual nursing grows, nursing informatics will guide hospitals in checking results, managing data quality, and making sure technology helps nurses without adding extra work.
Hospital leaders and administrators in the U.S. need to think of virtual nursing as a key part of their staffing plans. With nurse shortages and rising demands, virtual nursing offers a clear and practical way to keep care quality while controlling costs.
By starting with virtual sitting and growing virtual nursing roles supported by AI and automation, hospitals can improve patient safety, help nurses feel better at work, and use their resources well. This strategy saves money and improves patient care. Virtual nursing is not just a short-term fix but an important part of future healthcare.
74% of hospital leaders believe virtual nursing is or will become integral to care delivery models in acute inpatient care.
In 2024, only 10% of hospital leaders and 14% of hospital IT leaders have reached the phase where virtual nursing is a standard part of care delivery.
Health systems face significant workforce challenges, financial difficulties, and a shortage of qualified clinical staff, all hindering the adoption of virtual technology.
Hospitals can begin with virtual sitting for safety observation, improving patient outcomes, and reducing costs, ultimately leading to measurable ROI.
The clinical resource model focuses on documentation to free up staff, while the expert oversight model leverages experienced virtual nurses for complex patient care.
Most organizations start with virtual sitting, which allows virtual safety attendants to oversee patients remotely, improving patient safety.
A typical 250-bed hospital can save more than $2.5 million annually by replacing up to 75% of one-on-one sitters with continuous monitoring.
Surveys showed that virtual sitting improved nurses’ emotional well-being, alleviating stress and exhaustion linked to traditional in-person sitting.
The top use cases for virtual nursing are virtual sitting (39%) and offloading documentation, particularly for patient discharge and admissions.
Virtual technology streamlines processes and enhances communication, reducing in-person meetings and enabling quicker processing of necessary discharge paperwork.
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