Advocate Health Nurses, Leaders Help Set Standards for Virtual Nursing

CHARLOTTE, N.C., JULY 25, 2024 – During the pandemic, Advocate Health’s southeastern U.S. care delivery brand, Atrium Health, began pioneering virtual nursing, which was found to help address the effects of the national nursing shortage, improve communication between patients and care providers and enhance patient satisfaction with their hospital stay. The lessons learned from those early days through the evolution to today’s current state continue to shape the practice – and future – of nursing.

Several nurse leaders from across the Advocate Health enterprise have helped write and review exam questions now being used to validate a nurse’s competency in a virtual setting in order to receive the new Certified Acute-Care Virtual Registered Nurse (CAVRN). The development of a new nursing certification does not happen often and can take months to accomplish. The CAVRN is offered through the Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB), which is the certification board of Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses (AMSN).

“This group of Advocate Health nurses has been identified as being on the forefront of the development of virtual nursing and their expertise is continuedly relied upon, including to help create the first-ever virtual nursing advanced certification,” said Patricia Mook, senior vice president of nursing operations, education and professional development for Advocate Health. “Virtual nursing is the future of our profession as we know it and we are so excited our teams are helping write the book on it, both figuratively and literally.”

In Advocate Health’s settings, a virtual nurse cares for about 10 patients and can monitor vital signs, conduct admissions and discharges, and summon a nurse or doctor to the room, if needed. They’re also effective at helping prevent patient slip and falls, with a continuous vantage point, and patients typically appreciate that that nurse is “in the room” with them at all times.

The CAVRN credential is intended to measure the competencies required to provide this model of care, which helps to improve safety and quality of care for patients while liberating bedside nurses to provide elevated, hands-on and compassionate care. It has also helped health systems with labor cost avoidance and improved nurse retention during a time when many nurses are leaving the profession, and it has proven useful with veteran nurses mentoring those new to the profession.

New hospitals and redeveloped space at Atrium Health are being equipped with virtual nursing capabilities, which is one of more than 30 virtual programs being used to deliver high-quality care close to home for its patients, in rural, urban and suburban settings. 

Currently, only 65 registered nurses across the country carry the CAVRN certification. Among them are 10 nurses from Advocate Health.

The six nurse leaders from Advocate Health who assisted with the certification exam and were granted the certification for their participation are:

• Emily Cornelius, MSN, RN, NE-BC, CAVRN, Nurse Manager, Atrium Health resource team – external travelers, rehab, urgent care and women’s care
• Nicole Deal, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CAVRN, vice president, workforce operations, Advocate Health  
• Jada Dockery, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CAVRN, CMSRN, associate vice president, Advocate Health resource team – Southeast Region
• Melissa A. Gregg, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CAVRN, CNML, CMSRN, director of nursing services – Atrium Health resource team
• Patricia J. Mook, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CAHIMS, CAVRN, FAONL, senior vice president, enterprise nursing operations, education and professional development, Advocate Health 
• Russell Tremblay, MSN, RN, CAVRN, CMSRN, NE-BC, director, Atrium Health virtual services

Additionally, four Atrium Health virtual registered nurses took the exam and obtained CAVRN certification.

• Pam Morien, BSN, RN, BSN, CAVRN, Atrium Health virtual nursing observation
• Laura Stevenson, BSN, RN, CAVRN, Atrium Health virtual nursing observation
• Anna Tulloo, ADN, RN, CAVRN, Atrium Health virtual nursing observation
• Akilah Vinson, BSN, RN, CAVRN, CMSRN, Atrium Health virtual nursing observation

These teammates currently provide virtual nursing services at Atrium Health Pineville, in Charlotte, and Atrium Health Cleveland, in Shelby, North Carolina. They also provide virtual nursing services at seven Atrium Health emergency departments, including: Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, in Charlotte; Atrium Health Cleveland; Atrium Health Union, in Monroe, North Carolina; Atrium Health Union West, in Matthews, North Carolina; Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia; and two free-standing emergency departments in Atrium Health SouthPark.