Exploring the Critical Relationship Between Virtual and Bedside Nurses

The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the challenges faced by healthcare professionals; in particular, it exposed the highly stressful work environment the bedside nurse (BSRN) navigates while providing patient care. In response, virtual nursing (VNG) became an innovative solution to fill the gaps in...

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Main Author: Melanie Chopra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-07-01
Series:SAGE Open Nursing
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/23779608251358714
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author Melanie Chopra
author_facet Melanie Chopra
author_sort Melanie Chopra
collection DOAJ
description The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the challenges faced by healthcare professionals; in particular, it exposed the highly stressful work environment the bedside nurse (BSRN) navigates while providing patient care. In response, virtual nursing (VNG) became an innovative solution to fill the gaps in healthcare delivery, and it continues to grow as a nursing discipline. The adoption of VNG, which facilitates real-time communication with BSRNs, presents challenges in maintaining trust and collaboration in a digital environment between the remote virtual nurse (RVN) and the BSRN. Barriers such as skepticism, misperceptions about the RVNs' role, and mistrust are discussed, alongside strategies to improve the working partnership between RVNs and BSRNs. The importance of gaining bedside leadership support, offering mentorship, offloading work from the BSRN, communication techniques, and practical interventions is suggested as potential steps the RVN can take to enhance their collaboration with the BSRN. This article proposes continued integration of VNG throughout diverse healthcare settings to potentially improve patient outcomes and expresses the urgent need for further research to improve the evolving RVN–BSRN partnership.
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spelling doaj-art-9d4e7ae473ad46acb7f2f60158c477a22025-08-20T03:50:06ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open Nursing2377-96082025-07-011110.1177/23779608251358714Exploring the Critical Relationship Between Virtual and Bedside NursesMelanie ChopraThe COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the challenges faced by healthcare professionals; in particular, it exposed the highly stressful work environment the bedside nurse (BSRN) navigates while providing patient care. In response, virtual nursing (VNG) became an innovative solution to fill the gaps in healthcare delivery, and it continues to grow as a nursing discipline. The adoption of VNG, which facilitates real-time communication with BSRNs, presents challenges in maintaining trust and collaboration in a digital environment between the remote virtual nurse (RVN) and the BSRN. Barriers such as skepticism, misperceptions about the RVNs' role, and mistrust are discussed, alongside strategies to improve the working partnership between RVNs and BSRNs. The importance of gaining bedside leadership support, offering mentorship, offloading work from the BSRN, communication techniques, and practical interventions is suggested as potential steps the RVN can take to enhance their collaboration with the BSRN. This article proposes continued integration of VNG throughout diverse healthcare settings to potentially improve patient outcomes and expresses the urgent need for further research to improve the evolving RVN–BSRN partnership.https://doi.org/10.1177/23779608251358714
spellingShingle Melanie Chopra
Exploring the Critical Relationship Between Virtual and Bedside Nurses
SAGE Open Nursing
title Exploring the Critical Relationship Between Virtual and Bedside Nurses
title_full Exploring the Critical Relationship Between Virtual and Bedside Nurses
title_fullStr Exploring the Critical Relationship Between Virtual and Bedside Nurses
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the Critical Relationship Between Virtual and Bedside Nurses
title_short Exploring the Critical Relationship Between Virtual and Bedside Nurses
title_sort exploring the critical relationship between virtual and bedside nurses
url https://doi.org/10.1177/23779608251358714
work_keys_str_mv AT melaniechopra exploringthecriticalrelationshipbetweenvirtualandbedsidenurses