Presentation
HE15 - Optimizing Healthcare Discharge through Virtual Nursing
DescriptionThe process by which a patient is discharged from the hospital marks an important stage in the progression of their medical care as they move from the hospital to their own home or another care facility. During discharge, nurses play an essential part in ensuring that patients receive complete and accurate information regarding their condition, treatments, medications, and any follow-up care that may be required. An efficient discharge process can reduce medical errors, hospital readmissions, and complications during the transition of care by ensuring that the patient and their caregivers have accurate and up-to-date information minimizing confusion, increasing treatment compliance, patient safety, patient satisfaction, and decreasing chances of readmission, and chances of adverse medication events, all ensuring that the patient receives the right care at the proper time. An inadequate discharge can result in patient’s poor health outcomes and substantial financial repercussions for hospitals.
One potential solution for improving the discharge process is the use of virtual nurses. Virtual nursing involves telemedicine, digital health, and other technologies to deliver patients' nursing services. The service can be provided to patients discharged from the hospital using video conferencing, mobile devices, and remote monitoring devices. The use of telemedicine video and audio allows the virtual nurse to communicate with patients and other clinicians in the room. Virtual nursing also gives medical facilities access to a larger collection of skilled staff and experts who can provide quality advice and support. Through virtual nursing services, nurses can guide patients through their care and provide them with timely information and support. This can help ensure that the patient’s transition from hospital to home is successful. Additionally, virtual discharge offers an excellent opportunity to improve patient outcomes and reduce the strain on in-site healthcare providers. Likewise, virtual nursing discharge can help in the transition of patient use of technology in the process.
While there are many benefits of a well-planned discharge, there are still some obstacles to overcome before a patient can be discharged virtually. For instance, some patients will feel uncomfortable using the technology, and others will not have access to the necessary equipment. It requires a dependable technological infrastructure, healthcare providers who have received adequate training, and the capacity to manage patients' right to privacy and the safety of their medical records.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the virtual discharge process in a hospital in the Metro Atlanta area to improve operational efficiency. To ensure effective implementation of the virtual discharge process, several steps need to be taken. The measures include determining the patient population, the type of technology to utilize, and developing protocols and procedures for the virtual discharge service. A systematic approach is essential to successfully implement virtual nursing and reduce the occurrences of adverse events that could lead to readmission and poor health patient outcomes.
Overall, virtual nursing discharge can improve patient outcomes, increase patient satisfaction, reduce costs, and improve access to care. However, it is important to carefully consider the challenges and ensure that the necessary infrastructure and training are in place before implementing virtual nursing discharge on a larger scale. This research explored the virtual discharge process through workflow analysis and identified areas of process improvement, such as redundant tasks, inefficient workplace layouts, bottlenecks, challenges, barriers, and limitations.
As part of our study of virtual nursing discharge, we identified the major barriers faced by on-site nurses and included some suggestions that the hospital could adopt to improve the discharge process. Currently, the discharge is conducted with remote nurses who communicate with patients via a cart that includes a monitor, equipped with a camera and microphone. A discharge liaison sets up the equipment in the patient’s room and leaves to provide the patient and their caretaker privacy. The patient and virtual nurse discuss the care plan and any additional questions the patient and their caretaker may have. One prominent challenge that was observed included miscommunication between the on-site nurse and the virtual nurse. The virtual nurse is only privy to the information that is included in the patient’s file; it is imperative that the on-site nurse is able to spend some time explaining any distinct details with medication and any significant complications that were experienced during treatment. Efficient communication can help mitigate medication errors.
Another identified challenge was related to the equipment. Firstly, there are only two discharge carts split between six floors. The hospital can benefit by having more carts available for each floor, so the discharge liaison will not have to search for them. Also having a dedicated area for the carts will help alleviate any confusion about whether or not the cart is currently in use. Utilizing a virtual nurse can be beneficial in the long run, these are challenges that need to be addressed to improve efficiency.
One potential solution for improving the discharge process is the use of virtual nurses. Virtual nursing involves telemedicine, digital health, and other technologies to deliver patients' nursing services. The service can be provided to patients discharged from the hospital using video conferencing, mobile devices, and remote monitoring devices. The use of telemedicine video and audio allows the virtual nurse to communicate with patients and other clinicians in the room. Virtual nursing also gives medical facilities access to a larger collection of skilled staff and experts who can provide quality advice and support. Through virtual nursing services, nurses can guide patients through their care and provide them with timely information and support. This can help ensure that the patient’s transition from hospital to home is successful. Additionally, virtual discharge offers an excellent opportunity to improve patient outcomes and reduce the strain on in-site healthcare providers. Likewise, virtual nursing discharge can help in the transition of patient use of technology in the process.
While there are many benefits of a well-planned discharge, there are still some obstacles to overcome before a patient can be discharged virtually. For instance, some patients will feel uncomfortable using the technology, and others will not have access to the necessary equipment. It requires a dependable technological infrastructure, healthcare providers who have received adequate training, and the capacity to manage patients' right to privacy and the safety of their medical records.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the virtual discharge process in a hospital in the Metro Atlanta area to improve operational efficiency. To ensure effective implementation of the virtual discharge process, several steps need to be taken. The measures include determining the patient population, the type of technology to utilize, and developing protocols and procedures for the virtual discharge service. A systematic approach is essential to successfully implement virtual nursing and reduce the occurrences of adverse events that could lead to readmission and poor health patient outcomes.
Overall, virtual nursing discharge can improve patient outcomes, increase patient satisfaction, reduce costs, and improve access to care. However, it is important to carefully consider the challenges and ensure that the necessary infrastructure and training are in place before implementing virtual nursing discharge on a larger scale. This research explored the virtual discharge process through workflow analysis and identified areas of process improvement, such as redundant tasks, inefficient workplace layouts, bottlenecks, challenges, barriers, and limitations.
As part of our study of virtual nursing discharge, we identified the major barriers faced by on-site nurses and included some suggestions that the hospital could adopt to improve the discharge process. Currently, the discharge is conducted with remote nurses who communicate with patients via a cart that includes a monitor, equipped with a camera and microphone. A discharge liaison sets up the equipment in the patient’s room and leaves to provide the patient and their caretaker privacy. The patient and virtual nurse discuss the care plan and any additional questions the patient and their caretaker may have. One prominent challenge that was observed included miscommunication between the on-site nurse and the virtual nurse. The virtual nurse is only privy to the information that is included in the patient’s file; it is imperative that the on-site nurse is able to spend some time explaining any distinct details with medication and any significant complications that were experienced during treatment. Efficient communication can help mitigate medication errors.
Another identified challenge was related to the equipment. Firstly, there are only two discharge carts split between six floors. The hospital can benefit by having more carts available for each floor, so the discharge liaison will not have to search for them. Also having a dedicated area for the carts will help alleviate any confusion about whether or not the cart is currently in use. Utilizing a virtual nurse can be beneficial in the long run, these are challenges that need to be addressed to improve efficiency.
Event Type
Poster Presentation
TimeMonday, March 254:45pm - 6:15pm CDT
LocationSalon C
Digital Health
Simulation and Education
Hospital Environments
Medical and Drug Delivery Devices
Patient Safety Research and Initiatives