The American Nurses Association (ANA) was recognized May 6 -12 as National Nurses Week. With the theme of “Nursing: the Balance of Mind, Body, and Spirit,” the ANA honors and celebrates nurses who are leading the charge of health and wellness.
Nurses are more critical than ever to the health of the US. Although our aging population will increase the demand for nurses, the retirement of baby boomer nurses will unfortunately reduce the supply at the same time.
Georgetown University’s study “Nursing: Supply and Demand Through 2020” projects the following in regards to the number of nurses:
- Supply: The active supply of nursing professions is expected to increase steadily to 3.95 million by 2020, based on the age and makeup of the current workforce, the size of graduating nursing classes, and nurses’ career decisions with regard to working in the field and pursuing additional education,
- Demand: However, this supply will not be enough to meet the demand for nursing professionals, which will be around 4.14 million by 2020. The nursing workforce is projected to face a shortfall of roughly 193,000 nursing professionals by 2020.
Nursing has become more and more stressful. The US population is aging and becoming sicker. Performance expectations are increasing in terms of hours / shifts, responsibilities, and measurements. Spending time with patients is squeezed by the need to complete documentation. And, budgets are tightening – impacting staffing, tools, training, and pay.
Given these challenges and demands faced by nurses, virtual care can help address the workforce gap and the stresses faced by nurses in the following ways:
- Fast: By providing quick access to offsite / remote specialists and medical staff, virtual consult solutions help nurses enable the patient care needed when seconds matter.
- Flexible: By allowing nursing professionals the ability to communicate with patients via any device, anywhere, and at any time, virtual visit solutions provide nurses with more convenient options in terms of when and where they provide patient care.
- Forward-thinking: By using video conferencing platforms, virtual visit solutions help nurses better collaborate with the greater care team across the continuum of care.
Technology is continuing to transform nurses’ delivery of patient care. Virtual care, telehealth, etc. will not replace the nurse – nor the need for nurses. Instead, virtual care platforms will continue to evolve nurses’ roles by providing more options in terms of how, when, and where nurses are able to deliver patient care. These technology-driven approaches to care will help drive greater satisfaction for patients and nurses.