Hunterdon Medical Center Introduces Virtual Registered Nurse and Telehealth Program to Bedside Care
Hunterdon Medical Center has launched a new telehealth platform to assist nurses in caring for patients. In addition to a patient’s bedside nurse, Virtual Registered Nurses (VRNs) may be used to help manage care during a hospital stay. Virtual nursing is a type of telehealth designed to provide supportive quality care to hospital inpatients in partnership with bedside nurses.
The VRN is a Hunterdon Medical Center employed nurse - not artificial intelligence (AI) - who will assist during admission, provide comprehensive education, and coordinate discharge. This shifts time-intensive, non-clinical tasks away from bedside nurses, allowing them to focus entirely on hands-on patient care.
The VRN will connect to a patient’s television or a mobile video cart. The patient will first hear a knock, and the virtual nurse will introduce themselves and ask if they can begin a visit. Once the patient gives permission, the nurse will turn on the video, allowing the patient to see and talk to the nurse through the camera on the television or mobile cart. The sessions are not recorded and when the visit is finished, the nurse will end the video call.
“Virtual Nursing is an extension of a patient’s care team. Using this telehealth platform is another way to connect a patient to their healthcare providers. This new technology is helpful for family members who live out of state and can’t be with their loved one, but want to be involved in their care. A family can now join virtually for education and discharge instructions, ensuring a successful and supported transition home, leading to improved patient outcomes,” explained Susan Jelvani, MSN, CNL, CCRN, SCRN, CNRN, NE-BC, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer.
Hunterdon Medical Center was able to launch the VRN program as part of a $1,088,184 million Rural Health Transformation Grant from the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH), made possible through the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“Virtual Nursing will be introduced on our inpatient care unit 5 South, but we will use the mobile carts on other hospital units and in our Emergency Department, stated Ms. Jelvani.
To learn more, visit www.hunterdonhealth.org.
About the Rural Health Transformation Grant Funding
This publication is funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $147,250,805.85, with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.