NMMC in Tupelo cares for patients virtually
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Despite not having enough nurses to care for patients, North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo has found a new and improved way of making sure everyone who enters the hospital, is taken care of.
“There is a shortage of RNs nationwide, and that is one of the biggest issues that we have. What can we do to support the nurses, what can we do to support the staff? We thought virtual nursing is a support, it is not to replace the nurses on the floor or change the ratio of nurses to patients, but it is something we can do to help with admissions and discharges,” said Heather Wilf, NMMC Virtual Nursing Manager.
The virtual nursing manager Heather Wilf said the virtual program is just like using your iPhone or iPad.
“The screen on the TV says this is your virtual nurse, it will say your name, and it will have a code. It will say “Mr. Smith” Is this a good time to come in the room and talk to you about admissions and ask you questions? With their permission, they give you the code on the screen, we enter that, and then we drop into the room, and it is almost like using Facetime on the TV screen,” said Wilf.
When caring for several patients at once, a nurse can become distracted. Wilfs said this new tool allows nurses to regain more time with each patient.
“As a virtual nurse, you are not interrupted, you are not interrupted a thousand times by different patients or getting called out of a room a thousand times. This does allow us to fully focus on that patient.,” said Wilf.
Although the nurses have not been able to physically flush an IV, or take blood pressure, Wilf said she is satisfied with the outcome of the virtual nursing program, so far.
“It has been very positive, we have seen things, and we have goals of some things that we want to do in the future. We have done over six thousand discharges since we started last April. We have done over one thousand admissions, and you take that time off of the nurses on the floor, and that has been great,” said Wilf.
North Mississippi Medical Center plans to expand its virtual nursing program to its affiliated community hospitals.
