Most nurses say that virtual nursing does not reduce workloads

In a new study, over half of in-hospital nurses reported that virtual nursing programs do not reduce their workloads, casting doubt on a commonly cited benefit of virtual nursing.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, included results from the 2024 Nurses4All survey conducted between December 2023 and March 2024. A research team led by Penn Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) analyzed survey responses from 880 bedside nurses working in medical and surgical units at more than 400 hospitals with virtual nursing programs.

Survey results reveal that virtual nurses were primarily used for patient observation (53%), admission/discharge activities (45%) and patient education (37%). However, a majority of nurses (57%) reported that virtual nurses did not reduce their workload, and among these, 10% stated that virtual nurses actually increased their workload.

Of the 43% of in-hospital nurses who said virtual nurses reduced their workloads, only 8% said that virtual nurses reduced their workloads "by a lot."

A little over half of the nurses surveyed (53%) said virtual nurses improved quality of care, but only 11% reported that they improved quality "by a lot." Nearly half (47%) stated that virtual nurses had no impact on care quality, while 4% reported that virtual nurses actually reduced care quality. 

"Virtual nursing programs have been heralded as an innovative silver bullet to hospitals' nurse staffing challenges, but our findings show that most bedside nurses are not experiencing major benefits," said study lead author K. Jane Muir, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing and a CHOPR faculty member, in a news release. "Hospitals should be cautious about implementing virtual nursing programs. There is no evidence that virtual nurses are a safe substitute for in-person nursing."

In fact, qualitative interviews with nursing staff revealed that they prefer having more nurses at the bedside over virtual nurses to provide hands-on support. Additionally, some nurses noted that while virtual nurses provide an extra set of eyes and are helpful in administrative tasks, they can also create redundant work for bedside nurses, who may have to correct errors or explain procedures and policies to virtual nurses.

The study comes as virtual nursing grows increasingly popular in the U.S. A 2023 survey found that 66% of healthcare professionals believed virtual nursing would become integral to acute care delivery models, with 38% stating that their organization has already implemented virtual nursing or is in the process of doing so.

However, given the challenges of implementing virtual nursing in ways that enhance rather than hinder nursing workflows, health systems must carefully tailor their deployment plans to meet their organization's specific needs.

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and digital therapeutics.