Telehealth doubles the tasks nurses complete to assist patients with chronic diseases, a new study shows.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Chelsea Howland, a doctoral student at the University of Missouri’s Sinclair School of Nursing, saw firsthand how telehealth helped her dad, who has Type 2 diabetes and lives in rural Illinois, see his diabetes specialist virtually.
“…what often gets overlooked is all the work being done by the nurses on the back end to assist patients.”
As a nurse herself, Howland understands the convenience virtual appointments provide for patients, particularly in rural communities where access to health care can be limited.
Telehealth can increase nurses workloads, study finds
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While telehealth can increase access to care, its benefits should be balanced with remote care s potential to increase nurses workloads, researchers said in new study.
Nurses performed about twice as many activities with telehealth patients compared to in-person patients, according to University of Missouri researchers analysis of nearly 800 nursing activities performed for Type 2 diabetes and hypertension patients. While in-person visits led to follow-ups about once every three months, the patients using telehealth submitted their blood glucose and blood pressure levels multiple times a week.
While telehealth helped improve patient health through medication adjustments and lifestyle changes, it also resulted in more work. There were an average of 14.1 nursing activities related to monitoring blood glucose levels, reminding patients to submit their data, consulting with primary-care providers and
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SPOKANE, Wash. - Touching patients while providing care is an important and unavoidable aspect of the nursing profession. Nurses can also transform touch into a useful therapeutic tool to improve patients and their own wellbeing.
Western Journal of Nursing Research.The authors include two Washington State University College of Nursing faculty, Associate Professor Marian Wilson and Assistant Professor Tullamora Landis, former faculty member Michele Shaw, and lead author Enrico DeLuca, of Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, who visited WSU in 2018 to work with Wilson on the study.
Nurses touch patients frequently for tasks and to provide comfort and emotional support. Studies have looked at physical contact occurring during nursing care, offering several definitions. Expressive touch, for example, is spontaneous and used to establish contact, reassure or give comfort, such as laying a hand on a patient s shoulder.
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