In the united states the practice of telenursing requires nurses to be licensed to practice:

With the growing scope of technology used by society, telenursing is fast becoming a need to be filled in healthcare. 

Telehealth nurses are proving to be a pivotal force in reducing hospital stays, improving quality of life, and lowering healthcare costs.

With the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact, or eNLC, an RN can provide patient care in other states that are part of the eNLC without being required to hold licenses in multiple states. 

Telemedicine jobs span from advising patients via phone or email communication to real-time monitoring of a patient’s vital signs. It is one of nursing’s most exciting fields, and the eNLC holds promise of increased growth and new opportunities.

What is the eNLC and How Does It Affect Telehealth Nurses?

The Nurse Licensure Compact was enacted to allow expansion of healthcare and to provide a uniform standard of care. Under this agreement, nurses were required to hold multiple licenses, depending on individual state requirements. 

With the eNLC, telehealth nurses who meet the requirements or are grandfathered in will be able to provide patient care without holding multiple licenses if the states they practice in participate in the eNLC.

With the explosion of telemedicine jobs, the eNLC offers much more freedom and opens the door for more nurses to participate in this new form of patient care. 

As more nurses look to telenursing for opportunities, standardized care is important to ensure quality patient care is provided. The eNLC is in place for that exact reason.

Telemedicine Jobs and You

If you think telenursing consists of sitting by a phone waiting for a patient to call, you are mistaken. The opportunities are countless and are growing by the day. 

Answering after-hours calls or fielding prescription requests are some of the jobs available, but also you can find a job in telehealth nursing in the following categories:

  • Telephone triage
  • Vitals/medical device monitoring
  • Weekly patient check-in calls
  • Prescription reminders/refills and coordinating doctor’s appointments
  • Continuing patient care via email following a physician appointment
  • Insurance medical verifications

The opportunities are expanding with the ever-changing state of healthcare, and with so many individuals suffering with comorbidities, this need will only increase. 

Telehealth Nursing Across the Nation

With much of the country looking for opportunities to work from home, telehealth nursing is making that a reality for some RNs. 

Many telemedicine jobs will need to remain based from a medical office or hospital facility due to concerns over patient privacy. One of the added benefits of this job is that you are still able to provide patient care, but you are not exposed to illnesses in the way you are in a person-to-person setting.

Telehealth nurses must be organized, disciplined, and excellent at communication. In a telemedicine job, you may be providing access to medical care to someone literally across the country. 

Telehealth nursing is being used in many regions, especially to reach those who do not have direct access to medical care or many choices related thereto.

Telehealth nursing is in high demand. You can thank the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns when, for the first time ever, people were advised against going to their doctor’s office.

The only alternative to in-person healthcare visits is telemedicine. Although it can’t replace in-person appointments fully, telemedicine can help provide patients with necessary medical care — all they need is a stable internet connection and smartphone, tablet, or computer with a camera.

Thousands of practitioners want to utilize telemedicine solutions and reap its benefits, including nurses, because telehealth usage is at its peak — patients like the convenience of it, whether remotely visiting with a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional. Healthcare professionals like providing remote healthcare services because they can optimize their workflow, resulting in seeing more patients and increasing revenue.  

Nurses are in high demand across the country, and telehealth nursing is too. Telehealth nursing delivers care remotely to improve efficiencies and access to healthcare. 

To become a telehealth nurse, you need to be aware of the rules, policies, and regulations.  

What is telehealth?

The Health Resources & Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines telehealth as the use of telecommunications technologies and electronic information to promote long-distance health care, public health administration, and patient and professional health-related education. 

All of these elements are intended to assist those who are unable to see a doctor or healthcare professional in person. The telecommunication technologies include the internet, streaming media, store-and-forward imaging, videoconferencing, and terrestrial and wireless communications.

Every state has different telehealth definitions, though. The majority of the definitions have a huge overlapping area, and some of them are nearly identical. Certain state laws make a clear distinction between telemedicine and telehealth, whereas others use the terms interchangeably.

States that do make a distinction between the two use telehealth as a broader term — it covers the remote delivery of both clinical and non-clinical treatment. Telemedicine, within these definitions, refers to clinical treatment only and always includes diagnosis and treatment. 

For example, California’s telemedicine definition is shorter, stating that telehealth is a way of delivering public health and healthcare services when the recipient is at an originating site and the practitioner at a distant site. 

But, Louisiana defines telehealth as a mode of delivering healthcare services that utilize information and communication technologies to enable the diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, and self-management of patients at a distance from healthcare providers. 

That’s two definitions from two states. Add the definitions provided by other regulatory bodies, medical boards, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the mix, and it’s easy to see where confusion regarding telemedicine and telehealth could occur.

For telehealth nursing or telenursing, you must familiarize yourself with the definition your state provides.

What are the requirements for telenursing?

You need to meet certain requirements if you want to become a telehealth nurse. These steps are:

To be a registered nurse, you need to earn either an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from an accredited nursing program. ADN-prepared nurses must complete an additional step of either completing their BSN degree or entering into an accelerated RN to MSN program, which lets them earn their BSN and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) at the same time.

You become a registered nurse by passing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX).

Before transitioning to telehealth nursing, gain bedside experience. It’s an essential task to accomplish, and most healthcare companies may want several years of bedside experience before considering a nurse for telenursing.

  1. Earn Your RN-BC Certification

Since telehealth nurses often provide care to patients who are in ambulatory care settings, they must possess the right knowledge and key competencies. That’s why telehealth nurses take the Ambulatory Care Nursing Certification (RN-BC).

The above may be the basic requirements for telenursing, but, in general, a telehealth nurse should also:

  1. Have clinical knowledge
  2. Know the limitations of telenursing in their state
  3. Understand protocols, policies, and procedures
  4. Know what to do in case of an emergency
  5. Be able to maintain their equipment
  6. Understand how they can utilize technology to share information with colleagues
  7. Follow the regulations and laws regarding the protection of medical data
  8. Know how to collect the data necessary for remote patient monitoring
  9. Be able to put together a risk prevention plan for patients
  10. Know what to do if a telecommunication channel stops working
  11. Have an ethically correct attitude
  12. Understand the benefits of telehealth
  13. Have analytical skills
  14. Be capable of training their patient to use telecommunication equipment
  15. Use medical data in patient care

Telehealth nurses have a variety of job responsibilities; they need to cover various practice areas to provide assistance to patients remotely. It’s important to possess the right skills to provide quality care to your patients. Keep these requirements in mind when you pursue your telenursing path.

You may also want to consider joining the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) to provide care across state borders.

What Is the Nurse Licensure Compact?

In an effort to make telenursing more widespread and available across the United States, the Nurse Licensure Compact exists. The Nurse Licensure Compact is an agreement that allows a nurse to have one multistate license with the ability to practice in the home state and other compact states. It enables nurses to immediately start working in another state without having to apply and wait for another license. They can also provide cross-border or telehealth nursing services to clients in any of the compact states. 

So far, over six million nurses have taken the NCLEX exam, which goes to show that telehealth nursing is in high demand. If you want to practice telehealth nursing, you must pass NCLEX. If you move to a different state afterward, you will have to obtain a new Compact license, even if that state is part of the Compact. Know the NCLEX examination steps for your guide on navigating the Nurse Licensure Compact examination.

Where can you practice telehealth nursing?

The eligibility for telehealth nursing is highly dependent on the state you live in, but for the most part, you can provide telemedicine to patients at the following sites:

  • Hospitals
  • Healthcare clinics
  • Home
  • Community-based settings
  • Long-term care facilities
  • Post-acute care facilities
  • Mobile units
  • Schools
  • Clinicians’ offices
  • Nursing call centers
  • Workplace settings

Generally, anywhere the proper technology is available, such as to monitor a patient’s heart rate, respiration, oxygen levels, and blood glucose remotely —  is a suitable place for telehealth nursing. 

What tasks does telehealth nursing involve?

Telehealth nursing can include various tasks, depending on the patient in need of remote care. Some of the most common tasks a telehealth nurse provides are below.

What Telehealth Systems Allow Nurses To Do

Examples

Monitor Patient Data

  • Blood pressure
  • Blood glucose
  • Respiratory flow
  • Oxygen levels
  • Heart sounds

Consult Patients Remotely

  • Instructions on what to do when out of breath
  • Instructions on how to give an insulin injection
  • Instructions on how to change clothes
  • Instructions on taking controlled substances
  • Instructions on equipment usage

Provide Patient Care

  • Educating the patient on telehealth
  • Conducting a physical exam
  • Discussing medical tests and results
  • Implementing treatment protocols
  • Discussing more effective preventive care

What are the advantages of telenursing?

Telenursing has many advantages, but some of the most important advantages are:

  • Reduces overall healthcare costs
  • Enhances patient satisfaction
  • Gives access to a greater selection of healthcare delivery options
  • Reduces emergency room visits
  • Helps develop more reliable preventive care options
  • Leverages nursing expertise 
  • Manages chronic illnesses more efficiently

Telenursing is the best way to make sure patients receive the care they need, especially if they live in a remote area and can’t get help otherwise. 

Are there any disadvantages that come with telenursing?

Although there are a plethora of advantages, telenursing comes with a few downsides. The majority of them consist of legal and regulatory concerns, such as:

  1. Privacy
  2. Security
  3. Privileging
  4. Licensure for healthcare workers
  5. Credentialing
  6. Payment
  7. Coverage
  8. Fraud
  9. Abuse
  10. Online prescriptions of controlled substances
  11. Medical malpractice
  12. Equipment maintenance

States are working on regulating telehealth practices better and more thoroughly to guarantee the secure and efficient treatment of patients who consult with a healthcare provider remotely.

There are already hundreds of case studies that show the overall improvement of medical care thanks to telehealth options. But providers can’t disregard the necessity to protect patient data and privacy, which is why Curogram provides HIPAA-compliant software for telemedicine that makes it even more effective while maintaining security and law adherence.

Why should you use Curogram for successful telehealth nursing?

Curogram is a HIPAA-compliant telemedicine platform that was created specifically for healthcare workers, including telehealth nurses. Curogram comes with a variety of different features such as that make it easy for you to have a successful telenursing practice.

A huge advantage of Curogram is that you can integrate it into any EHR system as it automates the bulk of administrative work, features video visits, waiting room, and remote monitoring over a HIPAA-compliant SMS — allowing you to see more patients and dedicate more time to them. Having more appointments results in a significant spike in revenue. 

Medical professionals must adhere to strict and organized workflows, which is why they may hesitate to adopt digital solutions that manage their day-to-day tasks. Curogram mimics in-person workflows, making the transition to the virtual setting seamless.