AvaSure Launches Virtual Nursing Application
and Care Model

With six virtual nursing implementations underway, AvaSure is leading the way in hospital virtual nursing deployments

AvaSure, the inventor of the TeleSitter® solution and a leader in acute virtual care and remote safety monitoring, has launched a Virtual Nursing application and Care Model to support six virtual nursing implementations with many more in early planning phases.

AONL 2023 conference attendees are invited to stop by AvaSure booth #742 to learn more about virtual nursing.

Hospitals and health systems have been compelled to explore new models of nursing care during a period of escalating labor costs and widespread staffing shortages. For example, 52% of nurses are considering leaving the bedside, at a time when there are more than 1.1 million vacancies. Hospital leaders know the current approach is not sustainable, and experts estimate that 83% are considering virtual nursing as a solution.

To help hospitals and health systems respond to these growing market needs, AvaSure has recently launched several new virtual nursing-related initiatives.

AvaSure’s Nurse Elevated Care Model

As the pioneer in virtual sitting with the AvaSure TeleSitter® Solution, the company has expanded its offerings to support a more comprehensive nurse elevated care model. Consisting of virtual telehealth technology, and a team of nurses to support clinical technology adoption, AvaSure’s approach to virtual nursing represents an innovative new model of care that creates an augmented care environment where a virtual team provides support – offloading documentation burden, providing a second set of eyes on complex patients and helping to close the growing experience/complexity gap in nursing – to the bedside team.

To address growing labor challenges, six hospitals have recently adopted AvaSure’s TeleNurse™ solution, which enables health systems to reduce labor costs while liberating their bedside nurses to provide elevated, hands-on patient care.

“Nine out of ten hospital leaders say they’re considering some form of virtual nursing, but just a small percentage have actually started a program – why the gap? Many don’t know where to begin,” said Adam McMullin, CEO, AvaSure. “We have implemented our pioneering TeleSitter® solution in a thousand hospitals to establish virtual care. Many of these hospitals are now turning to us to partner on a virtual nursing program in order to reap further clinical, operational, and financial benefits from the AvaSure virtual care platform.”

Click here to learn how AvaSure customers have used virtual nursing solutions to improve HCAHPS scores, reduce code blues and decrease discharge times.

Two models of virtual nursing emerging

Some hospitals are implementing a model of virtual nursing called the Expert Oversight TeleNurse® that focuses on overseeing higher acuity patients for potential deterioration triggers, supporting novice nurses & conducting virtual rounding. In an article in Healthcare IT News, Amy Hassell, BSN, RN, CCRN, senior director for the Virtual Health Center for UCHealth, spoke about the key benefit of this model.

“They (virtual nurses) are able to see what’s occurring so that it’s just like we’re in the room with that care team member,” Hassell explained. “When we do this, it helps us cut down on phone calls and interruptions at the bedside, allowing us to still participate and do our part of the program. The program provides support and makes sure milestones of care are being met throughout that deterioration event, and help triage if needed.”

Several other hospitals are implementing a model of virtual nursing called the Clinical Resource TeleNurse® focused on admission & discharge support, patient & family education, consults and more. This model supports episodic intervention with two-way audio/video technology allowing personal interaction with the patient during important care tasks.

An East Coast hospital has expanded its AvaSure program from virtual sitting to virtual nursing, a simple process because both functions are performed via AvaSure’s virtual care platform. The transition will enable the health system to deliver a greater level of support to front-line nurses and bedside caregivers.

A Midwest hospital has implemented AvaSure’s TeleSitter® and Telenurse™ solutions to integrate with its Epic electronic health record. The hospital is defining new workflows in which virtual nursing can make a difference in enhancing their care teams.

After having successfully implemented a virtual sitting program in 2020 with AvaSure in its medical surgical and intensive units, a hospital in the Southeast has launched a pilot virtual nursing program to decrease ED holding times by streamlining admission from the emergency department to inpatient beds. The Medical Center sees this as a way to support nurses on the frontlines without compromising patient safety or patient experience.

Medical-surgical virtual nurse certification          

AvaSure Chief Clinical Officer Lisbeth Votruba, MSN, RN is participating as a subject matter expert on the task force that has defined the role of the virtual nurse and will be creating a medical-surgical virtual nurse certification from the Medical Surgical Nursing Certification Board, which will be launched later this year. Votruba pioneered virtual sitting and has published five studies helping to establish virtual sitting as a standard of care for patient safety in the hospital setting.

AvaSure Virtual Classroom Series: Virtual Nursing 101

AvaSure recently announced a six-part virtual classroom series, “Virtual Nursing 101,” in which Votruba details how nursing leaders can launch and implement virtual nursing programs. In the series, Votruba is joined by special guests and experts who cover key topics, such as the role of the virtual nurse, how to be certified, how to build a virtual nursing business case, as well as lessons learned from current programs. This free, six-part series takes place between March and August. To register, click here.