Virtual nursing decreases Ardent Health’s turnover

Experienced virtual nurses at Ardent Health conduct patient rounding and complete intakes, admissions and discharges, freeing on-site nurses to handle complex tasks and have greater oversight of patient care technicians. Virtual nurses have reduced nurse turnover and the cost of care, according to sources at the Brentwood, Tenn.-based health system. In addition, Ardent Health uses automated monitoring to determine a patient’s respiratory rate, heart rate and body temperature, enabling nurses to identify deteriorating patients up to 16 hours sooner than they can with vital sign monitoring and telemetry. Patient mortality has fallen by 15% on units with automated patient monitoring. Nurses feel more supported, further reducing burnout, an Ardent leader says. (HealthLeaders Media article, 3/25/25)