Saint Joseph Health System introduced a new program to improve patient care and help meet the growing demand for nurses. In-patients at Saint Joseph’s Mishawaka and Plymouth campuses now have an additional care team member: a virtual nurse. While “virtual” might sound like an AI-driven computer program, virtual nurses are real people who interact with patients remotely.
“The virtual nurse is a member of the team who has at least eight to 10 years of experience,” said Scott Ellis, chief nursing officer for Saint Joseph. “Many of them had considered retirement or even retired throughout COVID.”
Virtual nurses are part of the care teams for patients, but their role differs from bedside nurses.
“What the virtual nurses were brought in to do,” said Melissa White, nurse manager for the Virtual Nursing Program, “was to kind of help with behind-the-scenes things.”
White currently oversees 30 virtual nurses. She said the virtual nurses provide additional care to patients, while also supporting younger bedside nurses.
“We have a one-year nurse residency program for our new graduate nurses,” White said. “Virtual nurses are mentors for their small groups.”
Shannon Walsh, a virtual nurse at Saint Joseph, said she loves being a mentor to younger nurses after 30 years as an RN.
“Our new nurses now; we’re able to mentor them,” Walsh said. “If they have any questions at all, they can message us. They can ask us to come in, just to verify something, or to look at something. It gives them another layer of support.”
Walsh said becoming a virtual nurse has allowed her to focus on other important aspects of patient care.
“We don’t replace anybody,” Walsh said. “Think of us as another layer of support for the patients. We’re able to care for their mind, body, and spirit while they’re here. We’re not just performing tasks. We’re trying to keep their mind off of what’s happening in the meantime. They really appreciate that.”
With this new concept, White said many patients and families are initially apprehensive about virtual nursing, but that fades quickly.
“They know they have somebody they can call on 24 hours a day,” White said, “for needs when the bedside nurse is not around or in another room.”
Walsh said patients’ families also quickly embrace virtual nurses.
“Families know we’re available,” Walsh said. “It really sets their mind at ease.”
To address any questions about virtual nursing, bedside nurses explain the process to patients upon admission.
“The virtual nurse is actually able to knock to come into the room,” Ellis said, “just like you would for any professional setting for a nurse to come in. The patient actually hears a knock from the speaker in their room, and then they’re asked if they can come in.”
Saint Joseph is at the forefront of this innovation, and Ellis said other healthcare systems have taken notice.
“We’ve had lots of other hospitals and systems reach out to us,” Ellis said. “We talked to a lot of our colleagues across the country who are very interested in what we’re doing. We have a spotlight on us, as you will, for the innovative ways that we’re caring for our patients. We kind of led the way with that, which is a really exciting place to be.”
