CoxHealth slashes nurse turnover with virtual care
MISSOURI, UNITED STATES — Healthcare firm CoxHealth has successfully reduced its nurse turnover rate from around 25% to around 11%, a remarkable decrease of over 50% through the utilization of a virtual nursing program.
After facing staffing challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CoxHealth introduced a virtual care team consisting of nurses, hospitalists, pharmacists, and respiratory therapists.
The virtual care team remotely monitors patients and interacts with them via camera, collaborating closely with the bedside care team.
“We were working our way back up, but we definitely had people retire or had people leaving nursing altogether,” said Gina Ellerbee, DNP, APRN, administrative director of nursing practice and professional development at CoxHealth.
The program reduced hospital-acquired infections and decreased turnover for nurses. This prompted CoxHealth to turn that 90-day pilot into a live program by June 6, 2023.
In an interview with Becker’s, CoxHealth Chief Nursing Information Officer Summer Blackerby said, “I definitely feel it’s likely the most impactful work that I’ve done in my entire career.”
“I am sure that it would be hard to top this. Virtual nursing has impacted our patients in a positive way, it has improved quality and it has reinvigorated and refueled our staff’s passion for what they do,” she added.
