Best Practices for Implementing Virtual Nursing: An Evidence-Based Practice Literature Review

Activity Summary

Required reading for all learners: Implicit Bias impacts patient outcomes

In the current health care climate, hospitals are facing workforce shortages while attempting to maintain high-quality care for an aging population. Insufficient staffing is associated with higher mortality and infection rates among patients and higher intention to leave the profession among nurses. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, more than 100 000 nurses left the bedside. Although the number of nurses joining the workforce has begun to rebound, a sizable number of nurses are new graduates. In this situation, the overall workforce is disproportionately novice, generating a burden on experienced nurses to train, teach, and mentor nurses in addition to performing their patient care responsibilities, especially in the intensive care unit (ICU). This cycle of high workload and workforce attrition can lead to poor nurse outcomes and poor patient outcomes. One way to address these problems is to use Virtual nursing to leverage the expertise of experienced nurses no longer at the bedside.

Objectives

Identify the need for established best practices for implementing virtual nursing in the ICU setting
Describe the state of the evidence on virtual nursing in the ICU
Identify gaps in the evidence and future directions for research

Continuing Education Disclosure Statement

Criteria for Awarding Contact Hours

Learners must complete the entire activity and the associated evaluation AND read Implicit Bias impacts patient outcomes. No partial credit will be awarded.

Accreditation

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider number CEP 1036, for {contactHours} contact hours.

Disclosures

The Nurse Planner has determined that no individuals with the ability to control content of this activity have relevant relationships with ineligible companies.

Activities with pharmacotherapeutic credit are to assist the APRN in fulfilling their education requirements for licensure and certification renewals.

Refund Policy

Continuing Education Activities are nonrefundable.