Sinai Hospital Is Using Virtual Nurses To Help Bedside Nurses In The Hospital

Sinai Hospital, a part of LifeBridge Health in Baltimore, Maryland, has recently implemented a Virtual Nursing Pilot Program, according to WMAR 2 Baltimore. This initiative aims to address several critical challenges in healthcare delivery by leveraging technology to support the nursing workforce and enhance patient care.

About the Virtual Nursing Pilot Program

Sinai Hospital’s Progressive Care Unit (PCU), in addition to its bedside nurses, has begun using virtual nurses to help with tasks such as admissions, education, and discharges. 

The virtual nursing is done by a real nurse on-site within the hospital, who handles these tasks virtually, similar to a Zoom call. 

Program Goals

According to the pilot program lead, Carrie McAteer, the program is meant to lighten nurses' workload by doing “non-touch tasks for our nursing staff." They also report that it’s intended to help with their nurses' increased stress and burnout rates, as well as improve patient care.

What Nurses Say About The Program

According to McAteer, the Sinai nursing staff has been receptive to the new program; she stated that, “they know that there’s a virtual nurse to help greet their patient when they’re admitted to the hospital," and "they know that if a discharge comes through and they’re with a patient, they know that the virtual nurse is going to take care of that discharge for them."

However, the comments in response to a TikTok about the program reveal that nurses have mixed feelings about it.

@wmar2news Since the onset of the pandemic, many industries have switched to virtual platforms, and the healthcare sector is no exception. Sinai Hospital has embraced this trend by implementing a Virtual Nursing Pilot Program, which has not only relieved the workload but also brought patients closer to their healthcare providers. #nursing #baltimore #news #wmar ♬ original sound - WMAR-2 News

Many feel that this is a bandaid solution, with comments such as:

• “This just feels like a substitute for creating a better staffing ratio rather than just ‘lightening the load’ for nurses”
• “My hospital has these, it lightens the load SLIGHTLY cause they do the intake and discharge education so it's better for the patients but it doesn't really help the nurse that much.” 

While others in the comments did see the benefits of the program:

• “Virtual nurses doing ADMISSION INTAKE IS SO HELPFUL! I work the bedside and am so busy- yes! Have another nurse ask questions that are not critical”
• “As an RN I would LOVE for someone to be doing the admissions and education it’s the most tedious task in the world”