Emory medical-surgical units to use virtual nursing

Emory Healthcare will adapt 1,000 medical-surgical rooms for virtual nursing by year-end, says Corporate Director of Nursing Science Monique Bouvier, PhD, R, an AONL member. The Atlanta-based health system believes virtual nursing can help it meet staffing needs, benefiting patients and nurses. Bouvier says Emory has won over nurses who initially were hesitant to use virtual nursing, with leaders listening to nurses’ feedback via an “empathy-based plan-do-study-act cycle.” Emory also measures nurse retention, contract utilization, nurses’ perceived workload and work satisfaction to assess the overall work climate for nurses. Emory is integrating language translation into its virtual nursing platform and piloting a virtual care platform for patients as they transition from the inpatient to outpatient setting. (HealthLeaders Media article, 6/12/25)