A few years ago, it was estimated that by 2030 the U.S. would experience a shortfall of more than half a million nurses, with a huge loss in quality and availability of care.

The pandemic sped up the timeline.

The greatest concern was the potential loss of specialized expertise; two-thirds of 6,000 critical care nurses surveyed in August 2021 said they were considering leaving the field from burnout.

Solutions have been hard to find, but Houston’s Memorial Hermann Health System has tried something new:

• As the COVID-19 delta variant spread, critical care nurses were detailed to an existing central video monitoring facility. There, these “virtual nurses” can care for COVID-19 patients across the system, supporting less experienced bedside nurses and improving patient quality and safety.

Key learning objectives of this on-demand webinar:

• Discover the basics of virtual care, including the technology and the art of video and audio interactions with patients and bedside staff
• Learn about policies and workflows Memorial Hermann established for virtual nursing
• Find out how virtual nurses can make the highest use of specialized care resources