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A change of direction into telenursing has provided one nurse with work/life balance and job satisfaction.
After 15 years of nursing in various practice areas, including in the British Army, emergency care, primary care and surgical nursing, I have recently embarked on a new path - telenursing. I work for Homecare Medical (HCM), which, since November 2015, has run a range of government funded national telehealth services, including Healthline.
Initially, my motivation was personal - a desire for a better work/life balance and employment that was sustainable. However, as I moved through the 10-day training, I realised I was about to start a job that would offer more than that.
Healthline is a nurse-led triage service that uses an internationally renowned clinical decision support system, Odyssey.1 By following the Calgary-Cambridge consultation model,2 users are guided and supported by a framework that allows the registered nurse (RN) to integrate their clinical knowledge and experiences with evidential best practice. The evidence is updated through a regular review process endorsed by the National Institute for Clinical Evidence in the United Kingdom. 1
The tools that support nurses' decision-making are just that, tools.3 They have been proven internationally as an effective method for prompting a course of questions, but they are still an adjunct to an experienced RN's critical thinking and clinical judgement^
Specialist practice area
One researcher in the field suggests millennials have the skills and cultural background to create a recognised specialist practice area in telenursing. The researcher goes on to state that the nursing profession needs to seriously consider virtual health-care options to meet the challenge of increasing health needs.4
Telenursing has provided access to health care for those who, in the past, had limited health-care options. It brings health care and expert advice to rural and remote areas, increasing cardiac arrest survival and improving chronic illness management^
But some still think telenursing is not "real" nursing, as there is no direct face-toface contact with the patient. However, some researchers suggest that the physical elements of often delegated to unregistered support staff.4 They state that modern nursing is about...