Open Forum

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Hi Larissa, 

In our pediatric primary care clinic our nurses function in a hybrid role. 50% of their time is spent remote completing triage calls, prior authorizations, answering MyChart messages and processing refills. The other 50% of their time is spent in clinic performing nurse-related visits, in person education with parents and families, and supporting procedures that cannot be performed by our medical assistants. We have seen a huge decrease in nurse turnover, increased staff satisfaction, and greater role clarity with our nurses. Happy to discuss this workflow redesign with you further!

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Hi Larissa, 

In our pediatric primary care clinic our nurses function in a hybrid role. 50% of their time is spent remote completing triage calls, prior authorizations, answering MyChart messages and processing refills. The other 50% of their time is spent in clinic performing nurse-related visits, in person education with parents and families, and supporting procedures that cannot be performed by our medical assistants. We have seen a huge decrease in nurse turnover, increased staff satisfaction, and greater role clarity with our nurses. Happy to discuss this workflow redesign with you further!

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Audrey, I would be interested in knowing more about your hybrid RN role in your clinics, and the workflow redesign. 

Sheila Page, MBA, BSN, RN, CLNC

Sr. Clinical Improvement Specialist: Primary Care North Service Line

Skagit Regional Health

Office: 360-814-7824

spage@skagitregionalhealth.org

Hi Larissa, 

In our pediatric primary care clinic our nurses function in a hybrid role. 50% of their time is spent remote completing triage calls, prior authorizations, answering MyChart messages and processing refills. The other 50% of their time is spent in clinic performing nurse-related visits, in person education with parents and families, and supporting procedures that cannot be performed by our medical assistants. We have seen a huge decrease in nurse turnover, increased staff satisfaction, and greater role clarity with our nurses. Happy to discuss this workflow redesign with you further!

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Audrey, I would be interested in knowing more about your hybrid RN role in your clinics, and the workflow redesign. 

Sheila Page, MBA, BSN, RN, CLNC

Sr. Clinical Improvement Specialist: Primary Care North Service Line

Skagit Regional Health

Office: 360-814-7824

spage@skagitregionalhealth.org

Hi Larissa, 

In our pediatric primary care clinic our nurses function in a hybrid role. 50% of their time is spent remote completing triage calls, prior authorizations, answering MyChart messages and processing refills. The other 50% of their time is spent in clinic performing nurse-related visits, in person education with parents and families, and supporting procedures that cannot be performed by our medical assistants. We have seen a huge decrease in nurse turnover, increased staff satisfaction, and greater role clarity with our nurses. Happy to discuss this workflow redesign with you further!

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Hi Larissa, 

In our pediatric primary care clinic our nurses function in a hybrid role. 50% of their time is spent remote completing triage calls, prior authorizations, answering MyChart messages and processing refills. The other 50% of their time is spent in clinic performing nurse-related visits, in person education with parents and families, and supporting procedures that cannot be performed by our medical assistants. We have seen a huge decrease in nurse turnover, increased staff satisfaction, and greater role clarity with our nurses. Happy to discuss this workflow redesign with you further!

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Good morning! We are a smaller organization, with 4 Primary Care Clinics and 2 Student Based Health Centers. Currently, we have two Triage RNs and an LPN, who does nurse intake visits, working in hybrid roles.  For these roles, that means that they are at the admin building 1 day a week and work from home their other days.  Their work is 100% telephone based so working from home works for us.  I like to have them come in to the office one a week for relationship building and oversite, plus I feel like it is hard to get someone to come back in, if needed, when they are 100% remote.  

Overall, I haven't seen many pitfalls.  We do meet frequently as an entire team, so that is really helps build relationships.  There are the occasional technology issues that can be harder to navigate if they aren't on site.  I also think that managing staff remotely can be more difficult. 

I believe that there have been many benefits.  First off, we have not had a hard time hiring, unlike my peers in the area.  There are nurses out there that want these roles. Second, I have found that nurses who have roles on the phone and are housed in a clinic, often get pulled into other tasks.  Then it leaves their main work at risk.  Lastly, if you haven't had a chance to read the article in the AAACN View Point from March/April 2023 entitled "Multitasking: Is it Work the Risk?", I think it is worth the read.  I like that having these nurses work from home is allowing us to decrease some of the multitasking risks. 

Hope that helps!

Angela

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Are your nurses, under a union contract? 

Sheila Page

Good morning! We are a smaller organization, with 4 Primary Care Clinics and 2 Student Based Health Centers. Currently, we have two Triage RNs and an LPN, who does nurse intake visits, working in hybrid roles.  For these roles, that means that they are at the admin building 1 day a week and work from home their other days.  Their work is 100% telephone based so working from home works for us.  I like to have them come in to the office one a week for relationship building and oversite, plus I feel like it is hard to get someone to come back in, if needed, when they are 100% remote.  

Overall, I haven't seen many pitfalls.  We do meet frequently as an entire team, so that is really helps build relationships.  There are the occasional technology issues that can be harder to navigate if they aren't on site.  I also think that managing staff remotely can be more difficult. 

I believe that there have been many benefits.  First off, we have not had a hard time hiring, unlike my peers in the area.  There are nurses out there that want these roles. Second, I have found that nurses who have roles on the phone and are housed in a clinic, often get pulled into other tasks.  Then it leaves their main work at risk.  Lastly, if you haven't had a chance to read the article in the AAACN View Point from March/April 2023 entitled "Multitasking: Is it Work the Risk?", I think it is worth the read.  I like that having these nurses work from home is allowing us to decrease some of the multitasking risks. 

Hope that helps!

Angela

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Good morning! We are a smaller organization, with 4 Primary Care Clinics and 2 Student Based Health Centers. Currently, we have two Triage RNs and an LPN, who does nurse intake visits, working in hybrid roles.  For these roles, that means that they are at the admin building 1 day a week and work from home their other days.  Their work is 100% telephone based so working from home works for us.  I like to have them come in to the office one a week for relationship building and oversite, plus I feel like it is hard to get someone to come back in, if needed, when they are 100% remote.  

Overall, I haven't seen many pitfalls.  We do meet frequently as an entire team, so that is really helps build relationships.  There are the occasional technology issues that can be harder to navigate if they aren't on site.  I also think that managing staff remotely can be more difficult. 

I believe that there have been many benefits.  First off, we have not had a hard time hiring, unlike my peers in the area.  There are nurses out there that want these roles. Second, I have found that nurses who have roles on the phone and are housed in a clinic, often get pulled into other tasks.  Then it leaves their main work at risk.  Lastly, if you haven't had a chance to read the article in the AAACN View Point from March/April 2023 entitled "Multitasking: Is it Work the Risk?", I think it is worth the read.  I like that having these nurses work from home is allowing us to decrease some of the multitasking risks. 

Hope that helps!

Angela

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!  

Good afternoon!  Wondering what kinds of RN roles are doing remote work? For those roles, what benefits have been seen and has there been any pitfalls for those roles that provide direct patient care. Thank you!