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Highlights
- According to the Aged Care Amendment Bill 2022, a qualified registered nurse has to be present on site 24/7 across every residential aged care residence.
- Virtual nursing refers to providing nursing care and services from a remote location staffed by well-equipped workstations and devices.
- Virtual nurses are responsible for monitoring patients, while onsite nurses are responsible for delivering care and require to be physically present with the patient.
Nurses are the angels of the healthcare system, helping people with resilience and without fear. The demand for nurses was high even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia's aging population has placed more pressure on the profession. However, chronic shortages of staff in the aged care sector could make it difficult to meet the 24/7 requirement, as a result of which remote nurses could be taken into consideration. In such a scenario, virtual nursing could come as a good rescue when physical touch is not required.
The demand for virtual nurses is rising in relation to the Aged Care Amendment Bill 2022 for aged care residents.
Earlier in July 2022, the Albanese Labor Government had introduced a legislation towards fixing the crisis in aged care. According to the Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill 2022, a qualified registered nurse has to be present on site 24/7 in every residential aged care home.
This reform was promulgated in order to ensure that elder Australians living in residential aged care can get immediate care as and when needed.
Image source: © Arne9001 | Megapixl.com
What is virtual nursing?
Virtual nursing refers to providing nursing care and services from a remote location. The core skills of virtual nurses remain similar to those of onsite nurses. Virtual nurses are responsible for monitoring patients and tasks not requiring to be with the patient in real, while onsite nurses are responsible for delivering physical care and be ‘patient advocates’ for care plans.
Virtual nurses can work in collaboration with other nurses, physicians, therapists, and other staff who are offering physical care to the patient. Besides, virtual nursing offers several other advantages for nurses, which in turn might reduce nurse turnover rate. Have a look:
- Offers different options for shifts and work styles, which help to attract nursing workforce.
- Nurses can provide care and services without the need to relocate close to the hospital or aged care residence.
- It reduces responsibility for a host of tasks that do not require to be physically present with the patient.
- It helps to reduce potential staffing losses due to short-term injury or other such conditions that necessarily require nurses to be on their feet.
- It might help to reduce the administrative burden on nurses while enhancing engagement and satisfaction.
Technology used in virtual nursing
Image source: © Kadettmann | Megapixl.com
There are remote stations manned with well-equipped workstations. The workstation is loaded with microphones, phonelines, cameras, videoconferencing software, etc.
Bottom line
Virtual nursing is a key component that health systems can include in their transformation and initiatives of care delivery. Virtual care calls for new and renewed strategies to address the challenges faced by a burdened healthcare system. It might be ideally suited for tasks not requiring to be with the patient in real.
