The nursing shortage is a multi-faceted problem across the health care industry, including at BJC. To help address this serious issue, Virtual Nursing is one of many solutions we are developing to alleviate workload burden for the core staff we have and want to maintain and grow.
The Virtual Nurse Experience Program at BJC’s hospitals in St. Charles County, Missouri, piloted various workflows and technologies, and created a Virtual Inpatient Nurse role that would support our acute care teams. The support includes providing 1:1 patient education, mentoring new and novice nurses, supporting patient movement, and helping to coordinate care across our various specialties. With the teams at Barnes Jewish St. Peters Hospital and Progress West Hospital, the Virtual Inpatient Nurse role is defined and documented by a playbook, tip sheets and workflow diagrams, among other artifacts. We put these artifacts to the test in our Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital pilot and found them to be quite successful, leading to a smooth launch July 31.
As we plan additional pilots we look forward to learning more about our long-term technology strategy and how the virtual nurse continues to serve as an extension of our bedside care teams.
