Health care organizations must do things differently to combat
It's an approach that should pique the interest of
Feeling tethered to the office or a 9-5 schedule has taken a toll on employees across a number of industries. And as the dust continues to settle over the degree to which employers are allowing remote or hybrid work to continue, what's clear is that flexible schedules have become more valued than ever before.
Nurses today demand greater control over their careers, including how and where they work. It's one reason why they (and other clinicians) increasingly embrace contract opportunities over full-time employment in traditional care settings. In fact, a
In this environment, organizations that design and implement hybrid workforce models – incorporating a mix of both virtual and bedside nursing care – stand to come out on top in nurse retention and recruitment. Advancements in technology are making the shift to a hybrid nursing model increasingly possible.
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Burnout rates among nurses and physicians remain higher than they were before the pandemic, a
These pressures are prompting organizations to consider incorporating virtual models of care where they could provide the greatest support for onsite nurses and patients alike.
In bedside care settings, the availability of a virtual nurse who can offer specialized assistance when it is needed most allows onsite nurses to focus greater attention on complex cases. Those tasks include monitoring administration of medications, educating patients on how to care for themselves after surgery or talking a novice clinician through a test or procedure.
At a time when hospitals are
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Hybrid workforce models have become a way for hospitals and health systems to retain existing nurses and recruit new talent, as
In determining the business case for hybrid workforce support, it's important to identify areas where implementation of a virtual model in the bedside care space could increase productivity, improve patient outcomes and strengthen financial performance.
For instance, higher labor costs are
There's also a continued push to
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At Bon Secours Mercy Health, for example, virtual nursing pilots at three hospitals – two in Ohio and one in Virginia – tested a variety of approaches to determine the impact of these models on in-person nursing satisfaction, patient experience, throughput and productivity. One model, deployed at Bon Secours Southside Medical Center in Petersburg, Va., leveraged a remote nursing care subsidiary of the health system and a telehealth platform to speed inpatient admissions.
Use of virtual nurses to support this process reduces the moral distress bedside nurses experience when they must delay an admission to their unit until they have met the immediate needs of other patients in their care. It also enables these nurses to devote more of their focus to direct patient care, increasing satisfaction by limiting interruptions. In addition, this model positively impacts patient throughput from the emergency department, enabling appropriate utilization of resources.
Most health systems are still in the early stages of developing a proficient model for hybrid care, including in hospital settings. It takes a combination of technology and the right clinical resources to do this well. As more nurses seek flexible work options, designing an approach that resonates with these practitioners who a vital role in every community will reduce the potential for burnout and optimize retention of the bedside caregiver. And if benefit advisers are finding that the hybrid work model also resonates with other employee populations they serve that are struggling with burnout and retention issues, then they owe it to those clients to help craft an arrangement that works for everyone.
